


You Bring Me Home

by reminiscingintherain



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Disney Direction Fest, Harry is stressed a lot, Liam's a book agent, Louis Tomlinson Studios, Louis is obsessed with Harry's writing, M/M, Niall gets all the good lines, Niall has his own chauffeur company, Saving Mr Banks AU, Shawn gets a mention, Sweet Creature, Two hearts, Zayn works with Louis but he kinda does everything, nick's a dick, studio exec!Louis, there's a lot of Britisms in here, they're books, tons of fluff, writer!harry, you'll get toothache
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-01-16 03:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18513358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reminiscingintherain/pseuds/reminiscingintherain
Summary: "Are you willing to fly to LA to meet with Tomlinson?""I suppose I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" Harry grumped. "I'm assuming he's paying?""Business class all the way," Liam nodded. "And he's kindly arranged for me to accompany you. So at least you're not going to be on your own.""Please do tell how that's a good thing."Or, the one where Louis wants to turn Harry's book into a film, and Harry's very picky about what happens.[Saving Mr Banks AU]





	You Bring Me Home

**Author's Note:**

> AHHHH!
> 
> I'm so excited that this is finally posting!! As soon as I saw the list of prompts for the Disney Direction Fest on tumblr, I really wanted to do this one, and was so excited when I got it!
> 
> Of course, it wouldn't be possible without the help of my amazing wonderful beta [Lynda](http://wait4ever.tumblr.com/), who not only made my words prettier, also helped out when I went to her practically crying going 'THIS IS SHIT AND I KNOW IT'S SHIT, BUT I CAN'T MAKE IT BETTER, HELP ME'. She's the bestest!!
> 
> To [Sus](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/) and [Mel](http://2tiedships2.tumblr.com/) \- thank you for being my cheerleaders when I was grumbling about everything in general.
> 
> And a huge shout out to Nikki, the [Disney Direction Fest](http://disneydirectionfest.tumblr.com/) mod, who is an absolute star for arranging this!! <3
> 
> I hope you enjoy this, and if you like it, please leave me a comment or kudos... they make my life all shiny and happy.
> 
> Usual things apply - in no way affiliated with any of the people or situations mentioned, please respect the fourth wall and don't send this to anyone related to anyone etc etc.

The doorbell rang and Harry ignored it. Instead, he chose to continue to stare at the blank word document on his MacBook, watching as the cursor blinked at him repeatedly. He frowned slightly as the brief thought crossed his mind that the cursor was mocking him for his lack of productivity. The doorbell echoed through the house again.

"Jeff!" he yelled. "Jeff, can you answer the bloody door?"

He listened for a moment, but heard nothing. Not really caring enough to investigate further, he shrugged and returned to his non-writing. A few minutes later, the bell went for a third time.

"For fuck sake!" Harry exploded. "Jeffrey! Answer the fucking door!"

"Err, you sacked him," a voice came from the doorway.

Harry looked over quickly and glared at his agent.

"Liam, what do you want? And what do you mean, I sacked him?"

"You can't afford him, Harry," Liam sighed. "You're rapidly running out of money. I received a letter saying that the bank is looking to start foreclosure proceedings on the house if you can't make a payment within the next month."

"I... what?" Harry stared at him in disbelief. "My house? They'll take my house?" He looked around his office, the room he'd made his sanctuary, where he'd written his one and only book over ten years before.

"If you can't come up with the payments, yes." Liam rubbed a hand over his face as he took a seat opposite Harry. "Look, Tomlinson's been in contact again. He's willing to pay you a significant fee for the rights to _Sweet Creature_ , enough to pay off the mortgage on the house completely. He's also offering a ten percent cut of the box office figures. And executive producer title."

"I want script approval," Harry muttered.

"I can probably negotiate that."

"Full approval," he added sharply. "And I want to be there when they're filming. If a single syllable is out of place, then I'm not agreeing."

"Haz, you really don't have that much influence right now," Liam said gently. "It's either this, or you lose everything."

"Fuck!" Harry pushed his chair away from the desk and stood up quickly. "How did this happen, Li? Why... why can't I write any more? What the fuck happened to me? It's like I've never written a single word in my life. Every time I sit there at that fucking laptop, it's like I don't know how to assemble even a single structured sentence. The English language just disappears. And I can't remember the last time I saw my muse."

"It's been since Ni--"

"Don't you dare say his name!" Harry spat. "You know that! Don't! It has nothing to do with him. Nothing."

Liam sighed heavily and sat back in the chair to watch Harry as he paced to and fro behind the desk.

"Fine, I won't mention him. But there is a definite correlation between the time that he left your life and when writer's block seriously kicked in for you." He quickly continued, cutting Harry off before he could protest. "Don't even try to deny it, Styles. But that's not what I'm here to discuss. Are you willing to fly to LA to meet with Tomlinson?"

"I suppose I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" Harry grumped. "I'm assuming he's paying?"

"Business class all the way," Liam nodded. "And he's kindly arranged for me to accompany you. So at least you're not going to be on your own."

"Please do tell how that's a good thing."

~~~~~

The flight to Los Angeles was painfully long, and all it served to do was remind Harry of a holiday he'd once taken out there nearly twelve years before. Things were different then. _Sweet Creature_ had just hit the top of both the New York Times and the Guardian bestseller lists; it was riding high on the digital charts; there were whispers of a Booker prize nomination, and everyone in the literary world couldn't stop talking about Harry Styles - the next Big Thing™.

Plus, there was the whole thing about how he had a husband then.

Harry growled under his breath, rubbing at his forehead as his thoughts were filled once again of Nick. His ex-husband, who'd managed to royally screw him over and was one of the main reasons for the insecurity with his house.

Harry had known Nick since uni - they'd met at an LGBT social during Freshers' Week. They were boyfriends by the end of the first semester, had moved in together for their second year, and arranged their post-graduation careers together. It was a joint decision to move to London, to live in the house that Harry's great-aunt had left him in her will, with the aim of having a base for their chosen professions - Nick had an internship at Radio 1, and Harry wanted to give writing a proper attempt. Less than a year after graduating, Harry had signed with an agency, Payne and Son, and been offered a book deal, based on the first draft of _Sweet Creature_.

In a whirlwind of excitement over the five figure advance cheque, Harry blurted out a proposal that Nick had laughingly accepted. The following week, they were married at the registry office in Westminster, with two random people they'd grabbed off the street on their way in as their witnesses.

Another six months and they flew out to LA on holiday, still riding high on the wave of Harry's success.

It only took a further three months for it to all come crashing down around Harry's ears.

"Excuse me sir, is everything okay?" The flight attendant's voice cut through his thoughts. "We've landed, sir. You're the last to alight."

"Oh, oh! I'm sorry," Harry quickly apologised, scrambling to his feet and grabbing his bag out of the overhead locker. "Thank you so much for waiting. I'm sorry to have delayed you."

"No need to apologise, sir," the attendant smiled. "Thank you for flying with Virgin Atlantic today. I hope the rest of your day is pleasant."

"I have to go find my agent and then go for dinner with Louis Tomlinson, so it depends on your definition of 'pleasant', I guess," Harry sighed.

"Oh! Mr Tomlinson is lovely!" the attendant exclaimed. "He flew with us only last week. He's an absolute sweetheart. Always full of stories about his siblings, and telling us secrets about his latest projects." He beamed. "The furthest thing from a diva or a problem passenger we've ever had."

Harry looked at him for a beat or two, then sighed.

"Lovely. Thank you again."

With that, he made his way down the aisle and out into the blazing sunshine. He blinked a few times and squinted before he slid his sunglasses onto his nose and made his way down the steps and onto the asphalt. Entering the terminal, he was quickly found by Liam.

"Where have you been?" Liam asked. "I was getting worried, cos I thought you were right behind me, but then you weren't!"

"No, I'm sorry," Harry gently squeezed Liam's arm. "Just doing a bit of a battle with some old memories, y'know? Got a few ghosts that need to be laid to rest."

"Take your time, Haz," Liam said softly. "Mr Tomlinson isn't expecting us for another hour."

"Do you really think he's still gonna want the rights to _Creature_  after he's met me? I'm not exactly the most pleasant person to be around," Harry sighed, the word that the attendant had used leaving a slightly bitter taste in his mouth.

"I'm fairly certain that he's still gonna want it," Liam smiled. "None of your insults and brush offs for the past ten years have diminished his ardour - for want of a better word - for the book. I highly doubt that meeting you in person will have any kind of impact." He gave a cheeky grin. "Besides, I've lost count of how many times he's asked to be introduced to you."

"Why haven't you ever told me this before?" Harry demanded.

"Because a, you wouldn't have wanted to hear it, and b, you weren't in the right place mentally to hear it."

"I guess. Things have been a bit shit, haven't they?"

"They have, but you're here, so I'm thinking that there's a light at the end of the horrifically dark tunnel you've been in," Liam reassured him. "I'm proud of you, Haz."

They made their way through baggage collection, each grabbing their suitcases, before they stepped out into the arrivals lounge. In the middle of the room, holding a large piece of white cardstock with the distinctive 'Louis Tomlinson' logo across the top and Harry's name handwritten underneath, was a young man in sunglasses and a backwards snapback.

"Do you think he's here for us?" Harry asked drily.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Liam snickered.

They crossed the floor to where the man was waiting.

"You Styles?" he asked, a rough Irish accent immediately noticeable.

"I'm Harry, yeah," Harry held out his hand to shake.

"Hi there! I'm Niall. I'm gonna be your driver while you're here in LA. Lou instructed me to take you wherever you wanted or needed to go."

"Lou?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Aye, well, maybe he asked, rather than instructed," Niall amended. "He knows better than to tell me what to do." Harry and Liam exchanged baffled looks, as they followed Niall out to where he'd parked the car. "We've been mates since we were kids. I helped him out a bit at the beginning, but eventually broke away to set up my own chauffeuring company. Lou uses us for most stuff, but only calls me in for the big names. So. I'm guessing you're pretty important."

"Mr Tomlinson is looking to buy the rights to one of Harry's books," Liam said.

"I've only got the one book, Liam," Harry sighed. "Let's not make me seem more than I am."

"Ohh, wait, did you write that _Attractive Animal_  or whatever it was called? Lou's been after that for fuckin’ years," Niall grinned. "He's always reading it. I can't remember the last time I saw him and he didn't quote something, or ramble about it, like some obsessed fangirl."

"It's called _Sweet Creature_ ," Liam corrected, shooting a look at Harry in an attempt to gauge his reaction to that piece of information.

"Ah yeah, that's the one," Niall nodded. He opened the boot and put the two suitcases inside. "He's had a boner for it since the first time he read it. Came to me and Zee the first time he read it, said he had to make it."

"Who's Zee?" Harry asked, then bit his lip as he realised how quickly that had come out.

"He's the brains behind it all," Niall explained easily once they were all inside the limo and on the road, seemingly not noticing Harry's reaction. "Well, of a sort. He's a bit of a Jack-of-all-trades. He initially started as the accountant, helped Lou work out all the figures for the set up of the company. But then he was helping out with some of the scriptwriting. Then he started drawing and doing a load of the artwork for the promotional posters. That's basically what he does now. For the most part. But I reckon he'll be heavily involved with your script." He snickered to himself. "Stupid eejit fell for Lou's puppy eyes and got roped into some kind of private book club over that one of yours."

"So you've not read it?" Liam checked.

"I would've listened to the audiobook, but apparently there isn't one."

"No, uh, no," Harry stammered. "I've never agreed to one."

"Shame, I like to listen to 'em when I'm working."

"Told you there was a market," Liam murmured, grunting when he got an elbow to the gut in response.

Niall spent the rest of the journey chattering away about growing up with Louis Tomlinson, and how their lives had changed since the release and success of _Back To You_  over fifteen years before.

Louis Tomlinson had been a young lad from Doncaster, who grew up with dreams of playing football for Manchester United. They were lost to the ether after a particularly rough tackle in his second year of high school blew out his knee, and promptly ended any hope of a football career. While laid up with his leg in a cast from hip to ankle, Louis watched films. Anything that his friends or his mum or his sisters would bring him, he watched. Everything from classic Disney animation to the latest blockbusters, from slasher films to the sappiest rom-coms you could find, he watched it all.

By the time he was out of plaster, Louis had found a new dream. He joined the drama club, spending one show on the stage, before he decided that behind the scenes was more his deal. During his final year of high school, he directed the school's most successful production to date, a gender-swapped version of The Wizard of Oz. He reluctantly attended college, where he started to write his own scripts that were used by the Drama Club to local critical acclaim. On finishing college, he achieved top grades in his Drama and English Literature A Levels, which gained him entry into university.

Instead of choosing a university, however, Louis decided to take his best friends, Zayn and Niall, with him to Los Angeles. There, they all began minimum wage jobs while living in a crappy one bedroom flat. Zayn and Louis shared the bed, while Niall had the pull out sofa (he snored and kicked, no one wanted to share with him), and Louis spent any spare time writing.

Louis' big breakthrough came when an early draft of _Back To You_  was performed by one of the local AmDram societies, and was watched by an executive for one of the large production companies. Simon Cowell met up with Louis at the end of the show, and offered him a six figure sum for the work.

Louis turned him down, because he wanted to keep full control over all of his own work. But that gave him the push to invest what little money he'd managed to save up, and get a small loan from the bank, to cover the production costs of a small budget film. Within six months of wrapping, it was riding high at all of the independent film festivals - Cannes, Sundance, BFI London (which he managed to qualify for solely by being British) to name a few. The name Louis Tomlinson was on everyone's lips, and whispers of a nod from the Academy were rampant.

Louis never let it go to his head, which was decidedly a good thing when the Oscars came and went without any kind of acknowledgement. Instead, with Zayn and Niall’s help, he worked to get his company launched. A few risk takers for investors, followed by a series of highly successful box office smashes, and the money was rolling in for everyone involved.

By the time they arrived at the main Louis Tomlinson studios, Harry's mind was reeling with the sheer mass of information that Niall had dumped onto both him and Liam. He barely acknowledged his surroundings as he was led through to the offices, guided by Liam's gentle hand on his back.

"Lou! Oi, dickhead! I come bearing guests!" Niall yelled as he led the way into the waiting room outside Louis' office. "Get your ass out here!"

"Are you quite finished, Niall?" a voice, thick with a Yorkshire accent, came from the open door. "You're gonna make people think I'm easy going or some shit."

"That's cos you are, you twat," Niall replied. "Now get out here and meet this author dude you've been wanking over for the past ten years."

"Jesus fuck, Horan, what is your fucking problem?" Louis demanded as he appeared in the doorway.

Harry's eyes widened slightly as he took in the appearance of the man he'd forcefully avoided for a decade. The studio executive was shorter than he'd expected, with caramel coloured hair that fell stylishly across his forehead, above expressive blue eyes, emphasised by a pair of black framed glasses. He wasn't in a suit, the way Harry had assumed that he would have been. Instead, Louis was wearing a loose fitting pair of joggers, and an oversized hoodie, with a pair of trainers.

"Uh, Mr Tomlinson," Harry forced out, stepping forward with a hand held out.

"It's Louis, mate, Mr Tomlinson is my dad," Louis shook his hand. "It's a huge honour to finally meet you, Harry Styles."

"Uh, yeah, um, same...?" Harry attempted.

"I know, I know, I've been forceful, and I've barely let up," Louis chuckled. "But I produce my best work when I'm passionate about the subject matter, and there is nothing I've been more passionate about for the past ten years than _Sweet Creature_ , so it really does mean more than you can ever understand."

"Um, that's, uh, thank you," Harry stammered, looking at Liam desperately.

"Hi there, Louis, I'm Liam Payne, we've spoken before," Liam jumped in to introduce himself.

"Payno! Good to finally meet you, lad!" Louis greeted him enthusiastically. "Come on in, both of you. Let's get this discussion started." He looked to his assistant. "Oli, make sure we're not disturbed. This is an important meeting and I don't care about anything else." He stepped into the office, and then stuck his head back out. "Unless it's the girls or Ernie. You know the drill."

"Got it, Lou," Oli nodded, returning to his laptop screen.

Harry and Liam followed him inside and took their seats. Harry couldn't help but flinch slightly at all of the blatant merchandise for _Back To You_  that filled the office. This is what he didn't want to happen to _Sweet Creature_ , he thought. Commercialising it, merely for profit, made him feel ill at the thought.

"So, how do you want to do this, Mr Tom -- I mean, Louis," Liam asked, pulling a notepad and pen out of his briefcase.

"Well, as I've said to you before, Liam, I'm happy for Harry here to have full approval of the script - I've got our best scriptwriters on it, if I say so myself - and we're hoping to have the first draft ready for you to read by the end of tomorrow."

"By the end of tomorrow?" Harry frowned. "I thought, from the way you've been hassling me for years, that you already had the first draft. I thought that was why I was coming over here, to read the damn script."

"You're right," Louis agreed. "The initial storyboard has been ready for years. But I never wanted to actually put the words down onto paper in a script format until we got an agreement from yourself that could possibly lead to an actual production. So the script itself hasn't been written yet. But it will be."

"You're not exactly filling me with confidence, Mr Tomlinson."

"It's Louis, and I apologise." Louis stood up and came around his desk, leaning back against it and crossing his ankles. "I should have ensured that it was ready for you, and that is completely on me. Zayn has just popped out to get our lunch, but as soon as he returns, we'll be back on it with gusto. I think it'll probably be an all nighter session tonight, but it won't be the first time," he grinned.

"So you're writing it yourself?" Harry checked. "With... Zayn?"

"Yep, Zayn Malik, he's one of my best friends, and he's vice president of Louis Tomlinson Studios," Louis nodded. "He's been beside me since the beginning, much like Niall. The only difference really being that Zayn can balance a column of figures in about ten seconds, and Niall prefers to tinker under the bonnet of a car than add shit up."

"I heard that, you fucker," Niall came through the door, mouth full of crisps. "I can balance figures. How the fuck do you think I've got my own business?"

"Cos your brother does the boring shit you don't like?" Louis raised an eyebrow.

"Remind me again how we've been friends for so long?"

"Because we all know so much shit about each other, it means we can't fall out, it's too much of a risk," another voice added, followed by a man in skinny black jeans, a black tee with the sleeves cut off, and heavy black biker boots.

"Malik's got a point," Louis grinned. "Harry, Liam, this is Zayn Malik, my partner in crime. Zayn, this is Harry Styles, and his agent, Liam Payne."

"Nice to meet you both after so long," Zayn nodded at them.

"You too," Harry muttered, glancing at Liam, who was dumbstruck and openly staring. "Li? Liam?" He elbowed Liam in the side. "Oi."

"Uh, h-hi," Liam stammered. "Um. I-I'm Liam."

Zayn nodded slowly and raised an eyebrow at Louis as he handed over a bag.

"Your lunch," he said. "They didn't have the sourdough bread, so you've got rye. Please don't get sulky with me. It's your bloody studio lot, so you should be able to arrange for the cafes to order your poncy sourdough bread especially for you." He pointed a finger sharply at Niall. "Do not start fucking singing Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, Horan, or I will shove you in the fountain outside."

Niall slowly closed his mouth, huffing to himself.

"Don't you have a business to run?" Louis asked him.

"You wanted me to be chauffeur to Harry," Niall glared. "So I've taken time off, as you requested, slash demanded."

"Fuck, I forgot that," Louis muttered. "Right. Okay. So. Me and Zayn are gonna work on the script. So, could you give Harry and Liam a tour of the studio? Then take them to their hotel?" He looked at Harry. "I've put you up in The Four Seasons. It's just down the road from my place." He caught sight of the way Harry's face drained of all colour. "But if you don't like it, then we can move you wherever you like."

"Could I just get an Airbnb or something, please?" Harry asked, his voice shaky. "I think I'd be happier somewhere I could properly relax."

"Of course, of course," Louis agreed easily. "I'll get Oli to arrange it now."

Harry thanked him quietly, and rubbed a hand over his face. A wave of memories had flooded over him at the mere mention of the famous hotel. Memories of Nick that he'd really rather not deal with until he was on his own again, rather than in the presence of the studio executive.

"Hey, it's really not going to be a problem," Louis reassured him. "There's a lovely place two doors down from mine that should be available, and the owner owes me a favour." He looked at Liam with a grin. "I introduced him to his husband, and then was a referee for them to adopt their twins."

"Is there anything you can't do?" Harry asked, not unkindly.

"Last I checked? Get your book turned into a film," Louis winked. "But hey, I'm working on that, so maybe not? My siblings certainly have the idea that I'm all-powerful, but the youngest two are only eight, so I think they can be forgiven."

"You have siblings? That young?"

"Yeah, I'm the eldest of seven." He picked up a photo frame from his desk, holding it out to show Harry the picture of Louis surrounded by a mass of bodies. "Lottie's the next down, she's seven years younger than me. Fizzy's two years younger, then Phoebe and Daisy are five years younger again. Dottie and Ernie are the babies." He snickered. "Well, not really babies any more, but you know what I mean."

"That's amazing," Harry smiled softly. "I've always wanted a big family, but there's just me and Gem." He sighed softly. "Not that I've spoken to her for a while." He cleared his throat and stood up quickly. "But anyway. A tour?" he looked at Niall.

"Sure thing, author dude," Niall nodded. "I'll show you around this pit of despair. And then I'll take you to Disneyland, cos that's actually interesting."

"Oii, don't you be taking the piss out of my studio," Louis protested. "But I have to admit that Disneyland is awesome, and I'm jealous that you're going there."

"I think I'm just gonna wanna get some sleep to be honest," Harry said apologetically. "Plus I don't really like Disneyland. I've, uh. I've been before. A long time ago."

"Cancel Disneyland, Niall," Louis immediately said. "Show Harry the studio, then get the Airbnb address from Oli." He looked at Harry again. "I'll see you and Liam in the morning though."

"I suppose so," Harry gave him a small smile. "Good day, Mr Tomlinson."

"Good day, Mr Styles."

~~~~~

After a whirlwind tour of the studio, Niall dropped Harry and Liam off at the Airbnb, and Harry immediately retreated into the master bedroom, murmuring a vague excuse of jet lag as he shut the door. Flicking the lock, he rested his forehead against the wood, his mind racing with thoughts of Nick and what had happened when the book had been released.

_Ten Years Ago_

_"So you're going on a tour?" Nick asked in disbelief. "For a book? Are you shitting me?"_

_"No, no, Liam says it's a good way to promote it," Harry said excitedly. "I go to a load of bookshops, read a bit of the book, sign copies for customers, and it helps to build my profile publicly."_

_"It sounds like a crock of shit to me," Nick sniffed. "Why don't you just like.. go on the telly or something?"_

_"Because I'm not big enough for that yet," Harry explained patiently. "I need more than just a single book under my belt for that. I know it's doing okay at the moment, but it can so easily change. I need to get that fanbase built up, and reinforced. Plus I need to start thinking about the next book."_

_"The next one? You can't honestly think you're gonna manage to come up with another one, surely?"_

_Harry blinked uncertainly._

_"You... you don't think I can write another book?" he asked, his voice wavering slightly._

_"Babe, you and I both know that this," Nick held up a copy of_ Sweet Creature _, "was completely a fluke. The chances of you managing to even finish writing something else, let alone it being marketable, are slim to none." He gave Harry a pitying look. "You really shouldn't have signed the contract for a multiple book deal. You're not going to be able to follow through on it. You know that, deep down." He flicked through the pages. "And we both know that this wasn't all down to you. I know you copied some of it from one of your uni friends. I heard you both talking before you started writing."_

_"No, no," Harry protested weakly. "We were soundboarding. Matt knew what it was about. He was helping me. And I helped him with the story he was working on. It was a mutual thing."_

_"Sure, love," Nick sniffed. "You keep telling yourself that."_

_"I... I'm sure of it." Harry sat down on the sofa, feeling somewhat unsettled by Nick's accusation. "But, we went to LA because of that money. You wanted that. You wanted the big holiday. The business class flights. The suite at The Four Seasons."_

_"You could afford it," Nick shrugged. "I'm not about to advertise that my husband is a plagiarist, am I?"_

_Harry choked softly, his whole body tensing at the worst words for an author to ever hear._

_"I'm n-not a... a... p-plagiarist," he whispered._

_"Keep trying to convince yourself of that," Nick sighed. "I'm going out." He grabbed his coat. "Oh, by the way? I won't be back. I'm moving in with Eric."_

_"Who's Eric?"_

_"He's the man I'm leaving you for. He's a CFO for a large internet company, with a ridiculously large trust fund."_

_"But, I love you, Nick. We're married."_

_"Yeah, we looked into it," Nick told him, in a careless manner. "We can get it annulled. The paperwork's already been submitted; it goes to court in two days. I don't even want any of your money." He paused. "But then, there isn't much of it left, is there?" He smirked and left the house._

_The slam of the door echoed through the house, and caused Harry's tears to finally fall, leaving him alone for the first time in years, and smothering anything remotely resembling inspiration for his writing for many years to come._

Back in the present day, Harry sighed heavily. Dwelling on the past wasn't going to help him deal with anything that was happening to him in Los Angeles now. While he could acknowledge that the events surrounding his book signing and the breakdown of his marriage - could you call it a breakdown when one person just upped and left? - had definitely had an impact on his writing, he still didn't particularly want to admit that his self-confidence had been shattered by one person.

He pottered around the place quietly, making himself some tea and getting settled on the sofa with his laptop, finding the ubiquitous cursor blinking at him again.

"I'm gonna master you," he told his screen sternly. "I don't care how long it takes. I can be stubborn too."

"Are you talking to your laptop, mate?" Liam asked as he entered the room. "You know that's a sign of something a bit weird, don't you?"

"I'm an author," Harry shrugged. "Isn't eccentricity supposed to be a given?"

"True," Liam conceded. "You trying to write?" He sat down next to Harry.

"Trying being the operative word. To say I'm struggling would be an understatement."

"You'll get there, bud. I have every faith in you."

Harry looked at him in surprise.

"You do?"

"Of course I do." Liam gave him a reassuring smile. "You're talented, Harry. You can't let yourself forget that, even though I'm sure it'd be easy, with how long it's been since you last wrote."

"Thank you, Li. It's been a long time since I heard anything like that."

"That's disgusting and shocking, and I apologise for my shortcomings in that regard."

"You have nothing to apologise for, I swear."

"Hey, I have an idea," Liam grinned. "Have you ever looked up prompts online? For like, just some short drabble things? It might help you get back into writing properly?"

"I never thought of that," Harry pondered. "I'll take a look. It'd be worth a try, right?"

"Exactly."

"Thanks, Li. You're an amazing friend, as well as a kick-ass agent."

 

~~~~~~

"So, we have a script ready for you to look through," Louis started, as soon as Harry walked through the doors to his office the next day. "It's only a rough draft, so we're happy to add and remove stuff as you think of it while we're reading it through."

"I'm glad about that," Harry told him. "I fully expect there to be amendments."

"I'm practically counting on it," Louis grinned, his eyes crinkling at the side. "I have a feeling that this whole experience is going to be a challenge, and I look forward to getting to know you, Mr Styles."

"Let's not get carried away, Mr Tomlinson," Harry replied primly. "We have a purely professional business relationship. There's no need for anything else to be involved, especially not our private lives."

"I personally can't help but put my personal life into my work," Louis shrugged. "It's like, I need to put myself into it, so that I know that it's relatable." He took his seat on the sofa next to Zayn. "Plus, I feel that it's better to write what you know than try and make it up. If you've got no experience with something, then it's a little more obvious in the performance."

"Well, I wouldn't know about that," Harry huffed. "We'll have to just see what happens, I suppose."

"Sure thing, love," Louis grinned. "Let's get down to it." He handed out copies of the first draft, then looked at the first page, opening his mouth to read, but stopped when he was cut off by Harry.

"Exterior, morning, a small car pulls up outside a small house, with a small garden, and a row of small trees lining the driveway," Harry read steadily, before he looked around. "That sounds fine to me. Does anyone have any comments?"

"That's just the stage directions, Harry," Louis told him carefully. "They don't need to be read out, they're just there to guide the crew for when they start the filming."

"Oh," Harry huffed. "Well. They're still adequate. I don't think they require any editing at all."

"That's good to know," Louis smiled. "Continue on."

"'A young man walks down the road, with a young woman having been for a date. He guides her up to her front door and shifts awkwardly, not realising exactly what needs to come next, missing the social cues that dictate that he should be giving her a goodnight kiss.' Well, that's a bit wordy, but I get the gist."

"We struggled with that line of direction for a bit last night," Louis admitted. "It never seemed to settle in right. But hopefully we'll be able to tidy it up at some point. Even if it's only verbally with the cast on the day."

Harry looked at him for a few moments, before he nodded once. "That's sufficient, I think."

"Glad about that," Louis mumbled.

They spent the next four hours going through the equivalent of the first two chapters, page by page, and line by line. Just after midday, a knock at the door preceded Oli, who came in bearing two large platters of sandwiches.

"Lunch!" he called out cheerfully.

"Get out, we don't have time to stop right now," Harry demanded.

"But --" Oli began to protest.

"No," Harry continued sharply. "I have factored in a lunch break at precisely 1pm, so please return then with the food." He lifted his head to glare at Oli. "In the meantime, leave."

Oli looked at Louis uncertainly, who waved him away with an apologetic expression.

"There was no need to be quite so rude, Haz," Liam said gently.

"I can't have interruptions," Harry stated. "This is very important, and I will not see my work be ruined over something as trivial as sandwiches. Now then, shall we continue?"

They stopped, as Harry had said, exactly at 1pm, for a definite 60 minutes, before they continued to work throughout the afternoon.

Later on, after waiting until Harry was distracted at one point, Zayn leaned over to murmur to Louis.

"So I'm guessing he's not as strict on dinner as he was on lunch?"

"I guess not, Malik," Louis chuckled. "You hungry? I can get Oli to bring some snacks in?"

"I wouldn't want to put the poor lad at risk of getting his head bitten off," Zayn muttered. "Styles is definitely a lot more strict than I was expecting him to be."

"Do you think?" Louis looked at the author contemplatively. "I actually think he's easier than some of the writers we've worked with. Remember the diva behind _Why Don't We Go There_? She was a nightmare."

"I had actually suppressed that memory. Why did you have to bring it up?"

"Just trying to give you some perspective."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Are you two finished chattering over there?" Harry called.

"Sorry, we were just discussing dinner plans," Louis replied smoothly. "Would anyone like anything ordered in?"

"Ooh, what's the best Chinese --" Liam started.

"No, thank you," Harry interjected. "I want us to get to the end of the first half today." He sighed heavily. "The quicker we get through this, the quicker I can get home."

"You're making me feel like my hospitality isn't up to scratch, Harry," Louis said softly. "Is there anything I can do to make your stay here more comfortable?"

Harry looked at him for a few beats.

"Yes, make it short," he stated. Liam gave Louis a helpless look, shrugging a little. "Let's continue," Harry finished.

  
~~~~~~

Three days later, after a series of very late finishes each night before, Harry had dragged Liam to the studio practically before daybreak.

"Haz, I really don't think anyone's going to be here yet," Liam mumbled around a yawn, before taking a large sip of his coffee. "Is there any point in being this early?"

"Yes, because I need to get started," Harry told him.

"Harry, Haz, mate," Liam gently tugged at his arm. "What's going on? You've been like a machine these past few days. Why are you so adamant about getting home? It's gorgeous here - the weather's nice, the food's good. You can probably get back to writing here, couldn't you?"

"No," Harry said shortly. "I want to go home. I don't want to be here. It brings back... memories."

"Of Nick?"

"Don't. Don't say his name."

"You need to move on, babe. He's really not worth this much of your time and energy."

"I know that, But that's not what my heart says."

"I'm sorry. Life is way too short to be hung up on that dickhead."

"Again, I know. I know all of this. Mum and Gemma have told me repeatedly. I just can't help the way I feel. Writing used to be my outlet. It used to make me feel happy, and alive, and it was where I put all of my thoughts and feelings and emotions to deal with them." Harry rubbed a hand over his face. "But since Nick, it's been like everything's stuck in glue. Like my thoughts aren't coherent enough to be written down. Like I'm seeing everything through the dirtiest window you could ever imagine." He looked up at Liam. "And I don't know how to clean it."

Liam gave him a soft look and squeezed his shoulder gently.

"You'll get there, Haz," he told him quietly. "It's been a while, but you have to be ready. Maybe... maybe your agreeing to come and see Louis is the catalyst. Or at the very least, the beginning of the end. You're different here." He tilted his head slightly. "Well, maybe not here, in the studio - although it wouldn't be a bad move, no pressure, just an observation - but back at the house. You're a lot more like the Harry I signed way back when. It's a nice thing to see."

"Have I really been that awful?" Harry murmured.

"You've been... challenging," Liam selected his words carefully. "Definitely not my easiest author, but you're a good bloke to be around, when I'm not trying to convince you to sell your book."

"I'm sorry. That's... that's not what I'm like."

"I know. Your mum told me as much."

"My mum??"

"Yeah, we've had quite a few conversations over the years. Your mum's awesome."

"Well, yeah, I know, but I'm a bit annoyed that you've been speaking with her," Harry frowned.

"Don't be awkward now, Haz. It started when you got rushed into hospital with appendicitis," Liam explained. "Your mum asked exactly how you'd been, we started talking, then we swapped numbers. It's just the odd text or call now and then."

"It's weird. I don't like it." Harry looked at him stubbornly. "She's my _mum_."

"I know, and she's a fantastic mum, she's so supportive of you. She told me that some people have always been trying to compare you and Gemma, but that she tries to get all of those things taken down, because it stresses her out and she hates her kids being pitted against each other."

"She's always been protective of us," Harry sighed. "And she's been so brilliant with me over the past ten years. I'm not sure I would've had the patience to deal with someone who acts as much of a dick as I have been."

"You've not been that bad," Liam tried to reassure him. "I just... hoped it wouldn't take you so long to move on. But I get that everyone processes things differently."

"No, Li, you're right. I've been a ridiculously pathetic mardy ass for too long. I should've gotten over all of this, and myself, a long time ago."

"I didn't say that."

"I know. I did. It's like... being here? Kinda given me a bit of clarity, I guess. That, and this heart to heart." He gave Liam a small smile. "I really appreciate you, as a friend." He rolled his eyes slightly. "I kinda think you're my only friend at the moment."

"Well, I'm pretty happy to be considered your friend, Haz."

A sound outside the office caused them both to look around in surprise.

"Oh, hey guys," Louis greeted them as he stepped inside. "Wasn't expecting anyone to be here yet. You been here long?"

"About an hour or so," Liam said. "Sorry, if we're not supposed to be here. Haz wanted to get some more done, but... then we realised that we can't do anything without you and Zayn here, so we just talked for a bit."

"You're welcome here any time. I told you that at the start." Louis sat down in one of the chairs opposite them, setting a travel mug of tea on the table next to him. "Zayn will be later today - he has an appointment that he needs to attend. But he said to go on without him, and he'll catch up when he gets here."

"It's okay," Harry said carefully. "We can wait for him. Maybe we could do brunch first?"

Louis stared at him for a moment, then looked quizzically at Liam, before he nodded.

"Sure, we could do that. If that's what you'd like to do?" he replied.

"I'm guessing you know all the best places to go," Harry continued. "So we'll leave it to you to choose a location."

"Okay, sure, I can do that. I know just where we can go. They do the best full English this side of the Atlantic, and trust me, I've tried a lot." He grinned. "Gotta try and find that little slice of home, right?"

"Understandable," Liam chuckled. "As Haz said, we'll follow your lead. Starting to miss home a bit, if I'm honest."

"If you need to head back to London," Harry frowned at him worriedly. "I think I can handle working with Louis and Zayn on my own." He looked over at Louis a little uncertainly. "I mean, I'm sure Mr Tomlinson would be okay with my company."

"Of course, I told you before that you're always welcome, Harry."

"Well, my dad has been asking me to check on Dua Lipa. She's supposed to be releasing another book next quarter, but she needs a bit of chasing up. We've not had any sign offs on the cover art, or the final draft --" Liam stopped suddenly, noticing the raised eyebrows on both Harry and Louis' faces. "And you don't need to hear any of this. Sorry. Bit unprofessional."

"It's fine, mate," Louis chuckled. "You're allowed to vent, especially when it's an awkward client. We've all had those."

"I'm usually the awkward client," Harry shrugged. "So to be honest, it's kinda refreshing to hear that it's not me for once."

"Give over, Styles," Liam nudged him. "I'd rather spend time arguing with you over your books than Ms Lipa. She's a lovely woman, and an amazing personal shopper, but she's appalling at deadlines. It's like she thinks they're more of an advisory than a definite." He sighed and stood up. "Well, if you're sure about me leaving you here, then I'd better go arrange flights and all that jazz." He grimaced. "I hate that part."

"I'm sure, Li," Harry assured him. "I'm a big boy now. Perfectly capable of looking after myself." He glanced at Louis. "And I promise to play nice with the other kids in the playground. No more pulling of pigtails."

"I don't have pigtails," Louis pouted slightly.

"No.. pulling of.. long hair then," Harry rolled his eyes a little, giving him a carefully teasing look.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, my sister keeps nagging me to cut it," Louis ran his fingers through his hair. "Although she wants to try giving me an undercut or something, and I keep telling her that I'm too old to carry that off any more. It'll show all my grey hairs up."

"I don't believe that at all," Harry murmured. "I bet it'd suit you." Liam raised an eyebrow at him. "Shut up."

"Leemo, you wanna join us for brunch before you go to the airport?" Louis asked, breezing past the moment.

"I guess I can be a little bit longer," Liam agreed. "Dad's not expecting me back for another couple of days. And I'm hungry. Let's go."

"I'll let Zayn know to meet us there, he'll only sulk if he misses out on pancakes," Louis said as he led the way out of his office. "And we don't ever want to create a sulky Zayn. He's a pain in the ass and practically unbearable to live with."

"Oh, you, uh, you live with Zayn?" Harry asked, hefting his bag up onto his shoulder as he followed Louis.

"Real smooth, Styles," Liam murmured, sotto voce, then grunted as he got an elbow to the gut for his comment.

"Well, we share a house, I guess," Louis chuckled. "He has his rooms, I have mine, they just happen to be attached to some communal space. Really, it's just a lazy, left over from uni, habitual thing. We've been roomies for over fifteen years. We're kinda like in Friends, to be honest. Only with a living room and a kitchen in the middle instead of a corridor."

"Sounds... fun?" Harry tried to sound enthusiastic.

"Eh, it's probably partly why neither of us have found someone to settle down with though, to be honest," Louis shrugged. "We're stupidly codependent, in a really platonic way. It's pretty awful, thinking about it."

The three men walked out of the studios together, and made their way down the road to the cafe that Louis had suggested. Harry blinked in surprise at seeing it.

"It looks like a place just down the road from me," he observed. "I love that place."

"Ooh, yeah, they're pretty good," Liam agreed. "If these are anywhere near as good, then I'm gonna be happy on my flight home."

"We'll see if we can get you extra to go," Louis promised. "They do a pretty awesome takeaway package, in a really effective thermos type lunchbox. And it's really reasonably priced, too."

"Even better," Liam grinned. "Let's go eat now. My stomach's starting to get all rumbly."

"There's a surprise," Harry rolled his eyes teasingly. "And you haven't even gone for your ten mile run this morning."

"That's cos you dragged me out of bed at the arse crack of dawn to come freak out at me at the studio."

"I wasn't -- there -- I did not freak out!" Harry protested.

"Sure, Haz. Keep telling yourself that."

~~~~~~

“Nope, not a chance, you are not putting fucking animation in my film, Louis!”

“It won’t be animation, per se, just… a bit of CGI?”

“That’s even fucking worse.”

“You are so fucking unreasonable.”

"You two are so fucking entertaining," Zayn commented drily. "Harry, there's CGI in practically every film produced now. It's actually really difficult to find one without any these days. Lou, be a bit more diplomatic with how you say shit. You sound like a prick."

"We'd been doing so well," Louis muttered.

"Okay," Harry grumbled. "But I don't want there to be any bloody fairies or talking mice."

"We're not sodding Disney. It's just gonna be a little misty around the dream sequences. I promise, I'm not gonna make your story look twee and saccharine." Louis rubbed a hand over his face. "It's important to me, for a lot of reasons. I have so much respect for it, for you, for the way it makes me feel when I read it. I want to try and communicate that feeling to each and every single person who watches the film."

"Tell him, Lou," Zayn said quietly. "Tell him the reasons."

"Zayn..."

"Go on," Zayn insisted gently, as he quickly and quietly gathered his things together. "You need to have full disclosure with Haz about this. I know that he'll trust you with it then. How could he not?" he finished with a wink and a smile, and ducked out of the room without another word.

"What does he mean?" Harry looked at Louis questioningly. "Tell me what?"

"Eugh, I hate him," Louis groaned, banging his head against the table a few times, and then resting it there.

"Louis?" Harry moved around the table to sit next to him. "Is everything okay?"

Louis lifted his head slowly to look at Harry.

"Never work with your best friends, they end up having far too much ammo to use against you, and it ends up being a way to get bribed." He sighed heavily and sat back in his chair. "Okay. So. I probably should have explained this at some point over the past ten years when I was trying to get you to sign over the rights. But I kinda figured that it would potentially seem like emotional blackmail, and I didn't want that to be a factor in your decision."

"Okay. Continue." Harry looked a little uncertain and unsure about where this was going.

"When _Sweet Creature_  was released, I had really only just started settling into my role here," Louis began. "We'd released a couple of films, but up until that point it still felt a bit like I was playing at being an executive, like I was doing work experience with the big leagues, not actually owning a part of the big leagues. But there was a part of me that I was still hiding away. I was still very much in the closet, as far as anyone who wasn't a very close friend or relative was concerned - to the extent that I was publicly seen with women."

"I remember that," Harry murmured. "I remember saying to my... uh. Anyway, I remember thinking that you didn't seem very comfortable with that girl you were supposed to be seeing. And she was playing it up far too much for the cameras."

"Yeah. A model with an agenda, who'd've thought." Louis sighed. "She was definitely up for the publicity. I think she got a few jobs out of it, especially after the Oscars red carpet, but she was nondescript enough that she kinda faded into obscurity as soon as we 'split up'."

"I can't even remember what she was called," Harry shrugged.

"Eleanor," Louis pulled a face. "But anyway. Once I was a bit more settled with work, I started to feel constricted, and trapped, in my personal life. I started to hate myself, hate everything about my life, even the studio." He ran a hand through his hair. "I was on the verge of quitting everything when I saw your book in the airport on my way home to see the family. I dunno, something made me pick it up. I read it all in one go on the flight. Well, mostly. I had to be ushered off at the other end, so I stopped in the lounge at Heathrow to read the last couple of chapters. The whole thing just spoke to me. The way Ethan and Matt were always supposed to be together, the way they fought everything that the universe threw at them, the way they loved, so wholeheartedly." He smiled softly. "It just made everything clear for me. I spoke to Mum when I got back to Doncaster. By the time I was back in LA, a press release had been drawn up with my coming out." Louis blushed slightly. "I'm not saying I came out publicly because of your book, but it definitely helped me to move things along a little."

"That's..." Harry stared at him, dumbfounded. "I can't believe that happened to you." He shook his head in disbelief. "You're an amazing, talented man, and you're telling me that my silly little book helped you that much..."

"It's not a silly book," Louis said sharply. "Don't you dare downplay it like that. It was the first proper fictional book to accurately depict a same sex relationship, and be successful in a mainstream market. That's why people made such a big deal of it." He gave Harry a small smile. "And why the follow up was so anticipated. I'll be the first to admit that I've been disappointed on a yearly basis, when I've not seen your name in the list of expected releases."

"I... I'm sorry?" Harry asked. "I mean. I've been trying to get it done. Get the words out. But they don't seem to be cooperating all that fully. And the storyline sucks. Do I go with a sequel to _Creature_ , or do I go with a whole other bunch of characters? Do I stick with the same genre, or do I find a whole new one? Stay set in London, or take it to New York? I hate all the questions that I need to answer first. It stresses me out and gives me a headache."

"Haven't you tried writing small stuff, like drabbles, just for fun?" Louis asked, resting his elbows on the desk and his chin in his hands. "That's what I've done when I've had a block before. Search the net for random prompts, then write hundred word drabbles on them. It helps to clear out the cobwebs, and grease the wheels. A little, anyway."

"You're not the first person to suggest that to me," Harry chuckled. "Liam said the exact same thing before he went home," he elaborated at Louis' querying look. "I managed to write about ten words. But I swear the cursor in Word hates me."

"So use a pen and notebook," Louis shrugged. "Or a different word processor. Ooh, Zayn was telling me about this one site where your word count helps attack monsters or something. He managed to write over ten thousand words in less than a week on it."

"Less than a week?" Harry stared in disbelief. "That cannot be real. Even when I was writing _Creature_ I was barely hitting the 5k mark each week."

"I've sat and watched him knock out more than that in one sitting before," Louis confirmed. "The weirdest thing I've ever seen. He definitely got into a zone. But there was a bit of muttering about 'take that' and 'you're going down', which was completely irrelevant to the story he was writing - a twist on Cinderella - so it was somewhat disconcerting."

"I can imagine."

"But definitely recommended, and I reckon shorter stuff would be an excellent start for you."

"I'll give it a go," Harry agreed. "Although..."

"Yes?"

"Thinking about it, I actually have the storyboard and main plot points for the follow up to _Creature_ already written out," Harry admitted. "I've had that since before _Creature_ was released. They're all in a document on my laptop."

"Can I... Why haven't you written it up?"

Harry huffed out a heavy breath and leaned back in his seat.

"That... is a depressing story that I'm not too sure how to go into without ice cream or alcohol."

"I can provide either," Louis gave him a small smile. "Plus a box of tissues and a shoulder as a bonus."

"Nah, I mean, thank you, but..." Harry rolled his eyes at himself. "It's ridiculous and pathetic really. I was married. Head over heels in love with my husband. He liked the money, but didn't think I really had much talent. Told me so. And left me for an accountant right before _Creature_ came out."

"I..." Louis stared at him with wide eyes. "How did I not know about this before?"

"I made Liam blacklist my personal life for all interviews," Harry immediately explained. "I've never spoken a word about it to anyone who didn't already know. Liam was the one who dragged me out of my fugue state and into the promotional rollercoaster. He kept me away from drink and drugs - because believe me, I was definitely tempted - and helped to get that book onto the bestseller lists." He shrugged a little. "Then he let me disappear. Until I could... breathe again, without feeling like my chest was going to explode."

Louis nodded slowly.

"He's a good lad. Always on at me to be a bit more patient with you. Now I get why."

"The best friend I've ever had, I reckon."

"Hmm." Louis took a sip of his tea. "So do you still like the storyboard you've outlined?"

"I haven't read it for years, and I can barely remember what I wrote, so... I have no idea at all."

"You got it on there?" Louis nodded at Harry's laptop.

"Yeah..."

"Get it printed then, we'll have a look, see if it's even worth writing." Louis grinned as he stood up. "Otherwise, we can have a bit of a brainstorm and find you something else to write."

Harry looked at him, completely stunned.

"I'm probably overstepping," Louis continued. "But I think you're ready for the challenge, and I think you need a bit of a push to realise it."

"I don't know," Harry mumbled. "I don't think I can even write anymore."

"You have a talent, Haz," Louis leaned over on the desk. "I've seen that over the past few weeks. You've still got the ability to write - you've definitely got a much better flair for writing the way Ethan and Matt talk to each other, that's for sure - and that is most assuredly a transferable skill."

"Eughhh," Harry groaned. "You can go off a person, y'know?" He tugged his laptop closer and clicked around a few times, before he sat back again. "Fine, it's going to your printer. Don't blame me if it's the biggest load of bollocks you've ever read."

"You do talk some shit, Styles," Louis pointed at him as he trotted out of the office to grab the pages off of the printer. He returned a lot slower, already skimming the sheets intently. "Knew you were talking out of your ass. This sounds amazing."

"Lou, this is not helping with the script for _Creature_ ," Harry tried. "We need to finish that off. Then maybe, _maybe_ , I'll look at that again." He huffed quietly. "But like you said, I think I need to start off with short stuff. Get that writing muscle working again."

"Well," Louis dropped the sheets on top of Harry's laptop. "When you get around to writing that, I can assure you that it's going to be the perfect sequel to _Creature_ , and I cannot wait to read it."

"You're just saying that to get me to write the damn thing."

"Well, duh. I already told you that I'm a huge fan of it, that's why we're here, writing the script. Of course I want you to write the sequel."

Harry shook his head in amusement and returned to the script.

"It can wait."

"I've waited ten years for this, I'm sure I can wait a bit longer."

"You're a cheeky shit."

"You've only just realised this?"

"No, but I've only just felt like I can tell you to your face."

Louis hid a smile in his hand as he grabbed up his copy of the script - getting Harry to trust him was a huge step, one that he hadn't thought he'd ever reach. The pride he felt, knowing that Harry felt that comfortable with him, was indescribable.

He settled down again, silently agreeing to keep quiet about the sequel as they continued on with the script, once again bickering over the inclusion of CGI and animation.

~~~~~~

"That's it."

"Really?" Harry looked at Louis in surprise. "We're done?"

"Mmhmm," Louis nodded. "I think it's done."

"Wow." Harry sat back in his seat, gazing at the script on the table. "I can't quite believe that we've done it."

"Believe it, buddy. It's time to get into pre-production." Louis thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, casting would be a good idea too."

Harry chuckled and sat up a little. It had taken them a lot longer than the original two weeks that he had planned to be in LA. In fact, five weeks had passed with the two of them - only sometimes joined by Zayn - in the office, going over the script line by line. It probably could've been done in a shorter time, but Harry had disagreed with the way one particular scene had been drafted out, so a full rewrite had taken place, which had taken up a whole week. There had been a few disagreements along the way - in particular over some of the scene descriptions for the set designers, rather than the actual lines for the actors to read - but eventually they had come to an agreement over everything.

There had been some compromises on both sides. Harry had reluctantly given up on the idea that the story could take place solely in one room ("You have different locations in the damn book, Styles." "Brie Larson won an Oscar for _Room_ . It's doable." "That was entirely _set_ in one room. Stop being ridiculous."), while Louis had succumbed to having the characters be British ("I get so annoyed with US studios adapting British books and making them all American." "It's cos the casting is easier." "No, it's lazy. And so many of the nuances are lost in an American accent." "I get it, it's British, we'll even film in London." "Thank you.").

In between the writing and the rewriting, and the squabbles over tea or coffee, and the late night takeout deliveries, there had also been a lot of talking. They had gotten to know each other, with what started out as random comments after their big heart to heart before Liam had left, but eventually ended up as proper breaks that involved discussions about their families, where they grew up, what they wanted to achieve with their lives. Harry found himself to be a lot more relaxed, heard himself laughing more often and more easily, and although he only dared to admit it in the darkness of his bedroom at the lavish Airbnb, slowly realised that he was beginning to develop _feelings_ again.

And that scared the shit out of him.

He could barely believe that Louis Tomlinson, the guy who'd annoyed him on a semi-regular basis for the past decade, had actually managed to break through the heavily fortified walls that he'd built up after Nick had left. The person he'd least expected, the person he'd never seen coming, had gently joked and teased and laughed in past the defences, and found his way in to Harry's emotions, somehow giving them a kickstart into working again.

Harry looked over at Louis again. He bit his lip as he noticed how Louis' hair glinted with a slight red tint in the sunlight, and the way it swooped gently down to rest against his cheekbone. Harry's gaze slowly followed the line of Louis' sharp jaw, watching as his Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he swallowed.

"Hey, you okay there?"

Harry startled at the sound of Louis' voice, flicking his eyes up to meet Louis' inquisitive look.

"Y-yeah, yeah, I'm okay," he stammered out. "Sorry. Was spacing out a bit or something."

"You definitely looked lost in thought," Louis smiled. "Hope they were good thoughts."

"Um, I..." Harry scrambled around for a reason. "I was thinking about the sequel. Like... if the film's a success, and if I manage to get the book written, and _that's_ a success, then... maybe we can make a film out of that too? Obviously if we get a decent cast who are willing to sign up for another, y'know?"

"Yeah, I mean, there's nothing wrong with being optimistic," Louis shrugged. "I reckon the film's gonna be good, and your book is definitely going to be a hit, but most people would reckon I'm biased because of working on it with you."

"I don't think you're biased, babe," Harry smiled, then blushed when he realised his slip of the tongue.

"Well, that's definitely a biased view," Louis winked. "Okay, I need to get this printed out and sent over to Zayn. He can check through it and sign it off properly. You wanna help me draw up a casting order?"

"What's that?"

"It's a list of requirements for the cast that we want for the film," Louis explained. "So, approximate age, build, hair colour. For this kind of role, in this location, for this length of time. Auditions are at this place at this time. Contact this person for a scene for preparation."

"Wow," Harry let out a low whistle. "It sounds... very real, all of a sudden. And a bit scary."

"Yep, the scary part is definitely scary."

"There's a lot of scary stuff at the moment," Harry admitted. "I wasn't just thinking about the sequel."

"No?" Louis raised an eyebrow, pushing his laptop to one side. "I get the feeling this is a bit serious, so you have my undivided attention, Haz."

Harry took a deep breath and sat up properly, clasping his hands together on the edge of the table. He didn't know what kind of impact what he was about to say was going to have on their friendship - because that was definitely what they had now. There was a part of him that was terrified, afraid that he was about to royally screw everything up. But the larger, braver part, the part that had made him speak up in the first place, that was adamant that this was worth it, that putting everything out there was the best idea he'd ever had. So he was. And he felt a little bit sick about it.

"Harry? Is everything okay, love?"

Harry couldn't help but smile slightly as he recognised the soft and concerned tone in Louis' voice, one he'd heard only a few days before when Louis had been talking to his smallest sister on a FaceTime call.

"Everything's fine," Harry assured him. "I've just been... dealing with a lot, being here."

"I understand," Louis nodded. "But you seem to be a lot better now? You're more relaxed. It's been nice to see."

"Yeah, I feel it. And I have you to thank for that, in part at least."

"Me? What've I done?"

"You got me here, you trusted me to work with you," he caught Louis' disbelieving look. "Well, okay, you forced me to work with you. But it was what I needed, even though I didn't know that, or couldn't acknowledge that anyway, when I first arrived."

"It was a team effort," Louis shrugged.

"No, well, yes, but it was mainly you," Harry insisted. "You had the passion behind this whole thing. You've been the driving force. And... you've become a really good friend."

Louis slumped slightly, but gave him a small smile.

"You're a good friend too, Haz."

"Okay, but there's a bit more. Um. I wrote the first chapter of _Creature Two_ last night."

"You did?" Louis sat forward excitedly. "Haz, that's awesome! Can I read it?"

"No!" Harry exclaimed quickly. "Sorry, but no. I don't like anyone reading my in progress stuff. Let me get a full draft out, and you'll be the first to read it."

"Even before Liam?"

"Yes, even before Liam," Harry chuckled. "But... I haven't written anything at all since Nick left me. This... this is a big thing for me."

"I'm so proud of you, Harry," Louis said softly, his eyes crinkled up with the force of his smile. "I think you're doing such an amazing job."

"And it's down to you."

"What? No."

"Yes, it is. Well. In part. You..." Harry took a deep breath. "You've made me feel again."

Louis' jaw dropped slightly and his eyes widened as Harry's words registered with him.

"I... what?"

"It's true," Harry shrugged one shoulder. "I'm not making any huge, over-dramatic declarations of love right now, but I can actually feel that there are emotions - actual, genuinely positive feelings - going on inside me now. Which is something I thought I'd lost a long time ago."

"You... feel... for me?" Louis looked uncertain and unsure, like a rug had been ripped out from underneath him.

"I do. And I'm pretty damn cool with that." Harry gave him a small smile. "And I'm not gonna get offended if you don't feel anything in return."

"You are the most oblivious person I have ever met, do you know that?"

"I -- what?" Harry blinked in confusion.

Louis stood up and sat on the edge of the table, looking at Harry with a small smile. "You heard what I said. You're oblivious. I've been flirting with you for the past four weeks." He started to laugh at Harry's flummoxed expression. "You seriously didn't notice?"

"I just... thought you were being nice?" Harry said weakly.

"I was _nice_ to Liam," Louis rolled his eyes affectionately. "But I didn't pay for Liam to stay in an Airbnb after losing all of the reservation fee for The Four Seasons, nor did I buy Liam a monogrammed Moleskine, or arrange for his Mum and sister to come over for a week's holiday."

"Wait, what? My Mum? Gemma? They're coming?"

"They arrive in the morning," Louis nodded. "I figured we'd be finished by today, so you could spend a week here just seeing the sights and relaxing a bit with your family before you head home."

"Lou, that's... wow, I don't know what to say. Thank you." Harry smiled softly, then frowned. "Wait, does that mean you spoke to my Mum? And my sister?"

"Yeah, Gemma's awesome!" Louis exclaimed. "We were bonding over your clumsiness, actually. I told her about how you wiped out the table in reception that first week."

"Great, that's just... fantastic."

"I promise, we did not talk about anything much," Louis swore. "Gemma definitely did not tell me about your inability as a child to keep a secret, nor did she send me photos of you wearing your mum's bra and heels."

"I swear, I'm gonna kill her."

"It's an older sibling's prerogative to tease the shit out of smaller ones. You should be used to it by now."

Harry shook his head slowly, rubbing a hand over his face. He looked up suddenly.

"Okay, we got away from the start of this topic. I have feelings, you've been flirting, and I've got the observation skills of a gnat."

"That about sums it up, yeah."

"So, what are we gonna do about it?"

"I've heard they do these courses online, where they teach you about picking up social cues and body language..." Harry screwed up a piece of paper and threw it at Louis' head, who laughed and ducked it easily. "But seriously, I dunno. What do you want to do?"

"Well, I think I still need to do a lot of sorting out of my feelings and what they mean," Harry admitted. "But I would like to explore this," he made an awkward gesture between the two of them.

"I think we could be something pretty amazing, if we work it right."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I do," Louis stated firmly. "I think we just need to be sensible. You'll be going back to London, right?"

"Yeah, and you're based here, with the studio."

"Exactly. I do go home pretty regularly. Especially if we have a production in progress over there - and I reckon _Creature_ will take a while to organise and film - so I'm thinking we could definitely be in regular contact then."

"Plus, there's Skype and FaceTime," Harry added. "It's not like the old days when we'd have to wait for weeks or months before we could see each other again."

"And I also think that we've bounded a few hundred steps ahead," Louis chuckled. "Let's just go with - we'll get to know each other a bit more, and see what happens. We'll worry about the rest of it when it becomes relevant."

Louis sat back a little as Harry nodded and smiled. He hoped Harry wasn't going to take what he was saying in the wrong way - he wanted this, he was as excited as Harry appeared to be. But he didn't want either of them to rush into anything, especially as this was the first time Harry had even considered anything romantic in over ten years. Louis didn't want Harry to do something that he might regret in the future. If anything was going to happen between them, then it had to be solid and true.

Louis himself hadn't been in a relationship in far too long. He'd been on dates, sure, but they'd never really amounted to anything. He had a multitude of excuses for why this was so - the studio took up a lot of his time, scriptwriting had a load more, and then flying to and fro to Doncaster used whatever time was left. But he knew that all he could come up with were simply that - excuses. If he'd really felt any kind of connection, then he would've made time for that person.

But this thing with Harry, it felt different. There was something about the green-eyed author that just touched a part deep inside him, a part that had never really been touched before. He had a strong suspicion that it was his heart, but as he'd never actually been in love before, he was having a hard time defining it, if only to himself.

Instead, he had found himself ducking out to call his mum and sisters, getting their opinions on every little thing that Harry said or did, until he knew that he was driving them crazy with his weirdness - mainly because they told him so.

He also knew that Harry was getting a little concerned by his continued silence, judging by the weird looks he was getting.

"Sorry, I was thinking about some stuff," Louis admitted. "But I think we're gonna be okay, Styles. We just need to work stuff out. I'm on board with this though. So long as we take it slow."

"Okay, we can do slow," Harry nodded. "It's not like I'm up to date with how relationships work - I've been completely cut off from most human contact for ten years."

"We'll get ourselves sorted out first," Louis agreed. "Then we can see what happens. Friends, get to know each other. I'll be in contact a lot for the film anyway. You can come to the set, we can get everything worked out then."

"That sounds... doable."

~~~~~~

"I hate it, I hate this, why am I home, why aren't I still in LA?" Harry complained to Liam over tea and biscuits a week later.

"Because you needed to get home to make sure that your house wasn't taken away, and Louis has work to get on with that he'd been putting off to spend time with you," Liam told him flatly. "This is exactly what you told me when you phoned to tell me you were coming home."

"I know, but I miss him, and our schedules aren't lining up - not without me staying awake until some ridiculous hour in the morning," Harry pouted. "It's making me feel cranky. I don't remember this being a part of relationships. Is this normal?"

"For a teenage girl, yes," Liam muttered. "You're just out of practice," he said quickly, taking a sip of his tea. "You'll get back into the swing of it eventually. But I agree with Louis that you need to take things a bit slower."

"You're right," Harry sighed heavily. "I know you're right, both of you. But it's like, a light had gone out inside me, and now Louis' turned it back on, but there's fireworks and flowers and sparklers and confetti cannons as well, so I'm just... I feel all fuzzy and happy whenever I think of him, and then I think I'm being a bit pathetic and clingy so I get annoyed at myself. It's a pain in the ass cycle."

"Definitely a pain in my ass," grumbled Liam under his breath.

"What was that?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing, nothing." Liam took a large bite of a biscuit, giving Harry an innocent look.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm being annoying, and I promise I'm gonna get myself together eventually. It's just that I miss him."

"I understand, Haz."

"We haven't even kissed, for fuck sake, it's ridiculous."

"Wait, you haven't even kissed the bloke?!" Liam looked at him incredulously. "I thought that's what you were up to in that office of his! That's what Zayn thought too!"

"No, nothing," Harry huffed. "Just a peck on the cheek before I left for the airport."

"That's... well, I'm impressed at his restraint."

"You trying to say I'm irresistible, Payno?" Harry fluttered his eyelashes teasingly.

"Behave yourself, Styles, or I'll call your mum again."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

~~~~~~

In Los Angeles, Louis was having a similar conversation with Zayn and Niall.

"Oli says you're falling behind on checking over the contracts for new hirings and productions," Zayn said, trying not to sound too accusing.

"I think I've got one or two in my in-tray to do," Louis shrugged. "I really wouldn't go so far as to say I'm 'falling behind' though. That's a bit over-dramatic."

"I guess it's just behind for you?" Niall suggested. "Considering your normal efficiency, it's weird."

"I get that, but it's not like I've been sat around twiddling my thumbs. I've been working on getting all of the crew for _Creature_ , and talking to our London studios to make sure they're all prepared."

"You have Rita and Olly - the other Olly - in London to do that," Zayn said carefully. "I understand that this is an important one for you, but you can't let it overtake the rest of your responsibilities. It's not the only film we're working on right now."

"I know that, but I want to make sure that it's done right," Louis argued. "I need to have the best people we can get on it. I don't want to let Harry down."

"You're not going to let Harry down, pet," Niall reassured him. "He knows, just as well as we do, that you're working your ass off to get it all right for him and the film. He's not stupid."

"I know he's not stupid." Louis rubbed a hand over his face with a heavy sigh. "Fine, I'll admit that I'm throwing myself into this to distract myself from the lack of Harry in my life right now. When I'm working on his film, then I feel a lot closer to him." He paused as an affectionately fond smile spread over his face. "I miss the curly fucker."

"Well hold the front page, we have a brand new piece of news to announce," Zayn rolled his eyes. "Are we supposed to be surprised by that 'revelation'? And I use that word incredibly loosely."

"Oh shut your face, Malik," Louis glared playfully, and threw a screwed up piece of paper at Zayn's head, which he managed to avoid at the last second. "I'm just trying to get through as much of the pre-production here as quickly as possible, so that we can move up the filming dates, so I can head to London quicker. Is that such a bad thing?"

"It's not a bad thing, Tommo, you just should've let us know so that we can help you, ya knobhead," Niall chastised him. "And also so that your personal assistant doesn't have a nervous breakdown at your bizarre change in attitude."

"Oh for fuck sake," Louis muttered. "Oli, get in here!" he called. His assistant appeared in the doorway, looking worried and a little nervous. "You think I'm losing it cos I'm a contract or two behind?"

"N-no, Louis, of course not," Oli stammered. "It's just... not like you?"

"I know, but there's really nothing to worry about," Louis told him. "I've been trying to get _Creature_ ready as quickly as possible, and I've just been told by these two twats that I need to share the load in order to get it done in a more timely manner. So. This is me sharing the load."

"Okay, boss," Oli nodded. "What can I do to help?"

Louis gazed at his friends for a moment before he began to outline everything that needed to be done, along with a time frame in which to do it all. Over the next couple of hours, they managed to organise a plan of action between the four of them, with properly allocated jobs and bullet pointed lists. By the time early evening came around, and the others were making noises about going for dinner, Louis felt a lot more in control. If they'd worked it out right - and he was fairly certain they had, his team were the best - then he should be able to take himself off to London, off to see Harry, by the end of the following week. Which was definitely at least three weeks sooner than he'd been anticipating before the intervention.

He couldn't wait to see the look on Harry's face when they Skyped the following day, because he knew there was no way in hell he'd be able to keep it a secret, so he may as well just dive straight into it. If Louis could be sure that Harry was still up - he quickly did the maths in his head, but figured that it would be 3am in London by the time he got home - then he'd be calling as soon as he could.

As it was, he had to restrain himself until the next morning. His alarm went off nice and early, far earlier than he was used to getting up before this thing with Harry had started. After a quick run to the loo for a wee, he grabbed his laptop on his way back to bed and made himself comfortable under the sheets, laptop open and logged in on his knees.

In London, Harry's heart skipped slightly when he noticed the little green dot appear next to Louis' name. He bit his lip slightly, debating with himself as to whether he wanted to appear enthusiastic - or overeager and desperate, a nasty little voice that sounded much like Nick said in his head - or if he should play it cool and wait for Louis to call him.

The decision was made for him as his laptop began to chime in front of him, with Louis' name front and centre on the screen. Harry fumbled to answer, not wanting to make Louis wait too long.

"Hello?" Louis' slightly sleepy voice rumbled over the speakers. "You there, Haz?"

"Yeah, yep, two secs, Skype won't let me turn the camera on, okay, there. Hi!"

"Hello, love," Louis smiled softly, and Harry felt his breath catch slightly at the sight of him on the screen. He was shirtless and sleep-rumpled, down to the pillow crease on his cheek.

"Hi..." Harry breathed out slowly, before beaming at him, both dimples flashing deeply.

"How's it going?"

"Really well, I sent the first five chapters to Liam this morning," Harry said proudly. "He's not given me a deadline, just wants me to work through it when I'm ready. But I'm on a bit of a roll. Got another couple thousand words out today." He smirked. "Remind me to thank Zayn for that site recommendation - it's invaluable, I swear. I've never been this productive."

"That's brilliant news, love," Louis grinned at him. "I'm so happy, and proud." He chuckled softly when Harry ducked his head shyly. "I have some news too."

"Yeah? Am I gonna be excited?"

"I bloody well hope so," Louis snorted. "We have a slightly more precise estimated arrival date into London. The lads cornered me yesterday and had a go cos I was trying to do everything myself, which - obviously - was taking a lot longer than if I'd just done my job and delegated stuff. So we've worked it all out and I should be on a plane, London-bound, next Friday."

"Next Friday?" Harry asked. "As in, not tomorrow Friday, but Friday next week?"

"Yup, that's the one."

"Oh god... oh wow. Lou. Lou! You're coming here!" Harry got increasingly excited with every word, literally bouncing on his chair. "You're gonna see my house, and my office, and meet my cat!"

"You have a cat?" Louis looked slightly bewildered.

"Well, she's my sister's, she's called Olivia, but she lives here a lot cos Gem's away for work," Harry rambled. "So I say she's mine, and tell Gem that she's an awful cat mum, and then she gets huffy and threatens to take Livvy away, but that'd never work cos Liv loves me, way more than she loves smelly Gemma. I treat her like the princess she is."

"You realise you just called your sister 'smelly', right?" Louis checked, both eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Well, she is," Harry huffed. "Okay, so I somehow end up reverting to a sulky teenager whenever we get into it over the cat. But it's like... I just can't help it. It's weird. And something to discuss with my therapist, I'm sure."

"You have a therapist?"

"As of the day after I got home, yes," Harry gave Louis a small smile. "Thought it'd be an idea to try and work out why I held onto everything that happened with Nick for so long, and how it is that you managed to break through everything." Harry shifted his weight slightly and propped his elbow on the desk, resting his chin in his palm. "It's been a lot of help, to be honest. I never expected anything to really sort my head out, but I kinda wish I'd gone before. Then maybe I wouldn't have been so adamantly against you working with _Creature_ , and we'd have met years ago."

"I think it went exactly the way it was supposed to, Haz. We weren't the same people years ago, we had to go through all of that to be who we are today, to meet up like this." Louis shrugged. "I'm a big believer in stuff happening exactly when it's meant to."

"Like karma or something?"

"Not necessarily, but I do think that if you put bad stuff out into the universe it'll come back on you. And not even like, destiny or fate. Just that things happen as when they're supposed to, to have the best impact and affect on us and whatever or whoever around us."

"That's a pretty awesome attitude to have."

"Thank you." Louis blushed slightly under Harry's awed gaze. "But anyway. I'm considering taking the jet over to London, just because I'm not going to know for definite what time we're leaving until the day itself."

"Ooh, the jet," Harry teased. "Aren't you posh?"

"Shut your face, Styles. You know I'd rather go commercial. It's just an easier option when there's so much confusion about timings and shit."

"I know, babe. I'm just taking the piss. Besides, at least you're not gonna end up waiting for forever for your luggage in the hall. I hate that part. I'm always really anxious that mine is the case they've lost."

"That is definitely a positive part of flying private," Louis agreed with a chuckle. "But I'd still rather go commercial. I get bored on my own."

"Fair point. But you have to let me know what time you're landing. I'll come meet you at the airport."

"You'd do that?"

"Of course I would," Harry beamed. "I'm excited to see you again. Properly I mean, not through a screen." He reached out, flicking a finger gently at his laptop. "Getting a bit fed up with seeing you in 2D."

"I know the feeling, love," Louis said softly. "I've been annoying the lads something awful. Apparently I get 'really grumpy' if I haven't spoken to you in the morning. I personally think they're being irrational and overreacting a whole load, but what do I know, right?"

"Oh, babe," Harry pouted a little. "You'll be here soon. And I can make sure I'm free around this time every day so we can talk first thing for you if it'll make it better?"

"That just makes me sound pathetic. Besides, it's not like we're not in communication at all. We're always texting, and we speak on the phone."

"Yeah, but it's not the same as being able to see your face, see how you react to things." Harry smiled softly. "I just can't wait to see it properly."

"I promise I'll let you know our flight plan," Louis assured him. "And I promise I'll Skype you every day until then."

"I like those promises."

~~~~~~

"Well lads, I don't know quite how we've managed to pull this off, but we are officially ready to head to London," Louis declared late Wednesday night. "And a whole two days early. I'm very impressed with you all. Thank you so much."

"Hey, it's our job," Zayn snickered.

"Well, it's not mine," Niall shrugged. "But I'm happy to help, especially if it means you getting some action. You're virtually a eunuch, Tommo."

"I -- what? I am not a fucking eunuch, Niall!"

"Dude, your dick practically fell off from how little action you've gotten. And don't try and deny it, you've haven't gotten laid in at least two years. We always know when you have, cos you have a couple days when you're all smug and shit, then it's like the shine wears off and you get extra moody, before you find your balance again."

"I literally cannot believe that you've paid _that_ much attention. I feel a little bit violated right now."

"Oh fuck off, Lou, you know you're obvious as fuck," Zayn interjected.

"You can shut up and all, Malik. Remember who writes your cheques."

"Yeah, and remember who makes sure you've got enough money so those cheques don't bounce."

"I'm so offended that you're ganging up on me. You suck. And I'm docking your wages. Or something. I dunno."

"Blah, blah, blah," Niall flapped his hand at Louis. "You're all talk and no action."

"I'm not even going to dignify anything else you say with a response, Horan. I'm just going to go home so I can pack, and call the airport to arrange a flight as soon as possible."

"Wheels up in the morning?" Zayn asked as he stowed his things in his backpack.

"Yeah, I'm gonna try and get a four am slot, so if you want on it, you gotta be at the airport for three."

Both Zayn and Niall levelled him with glares.

"Are you being deliberately evil?" Zayn asked flatly.

"No, I just need us to be there as soon as possible," Louis shrugged. "Deal with it. Either be there, or I can get you seats on a commercial later."

"Fine, fine. But I don't like you."

"And _that_ is the biggest lie this room has ever heard, and we work with actors. I'll see you in a few hours, lads." He paused in the doorway, throwing a confused look over his shoulder. "Wait, you're coming, Ni?"

"Try and stop me. I want front row seats to the Larry show."

"The what now?"

"Louis and Harry - Larry. I'm sure you're gonna wind up all adorable with a ship name, like Brangelina or Kimye, so I thought I'd get in there first. And Larry sounds better than Houis. Ooh, or how about Halo?!"

"Wash your mouth out with soap," Louis pointed at him. "If that ever happens, I'm paying for one of those data mining things and getting all traces of it erased from the internet." He shuddered exaggeratedly. "That's a horrific thought."

~~~~~~

"What time is it?"

"A whole minute and a half after you asked me last time, Haz," Liam sighed heavily. "They'll be here when they're here. Louis told you twenty minutes ago that they were just coming in to land. The private jets land on the further strips, so it takes a while for them to taxi over. Again, Louis told you all of this."

"I know, I know," Harry huffed. "I'm just... I'm nervous."

"No shit."

"But I'm also excited, it feels like it's been forever."

"Dude. It's been like, five weeks. And you've Skyped or FaceTimed every damn day." Liam rolled his eyes. "You're definitely gone."

"I am, but," Harry took a deep breath. "I have also realised, in this time, that I need to be careful. I need to protect my heart. Obviously, I don't want it to end, but... I need to make sure that if it does, I don't go into a decade-long funk like I did after Nick." He shrugged slightly. "I don't mean that I'm not going to be all in, but I need to try and keep a bit back for me."

"That's a solid plan, Styles," a tired voice came from the doorway. "And I fully support it." Harry and Liam turned quickly to see Louis, a bag slung over his shoulder, blanket over one arm, and an affectionate look on his face. "Hey there."

"You're here," Harry murmured.

"Back in the motherland," Zayn added as he stepped out from behind Louis. "And it's raining, because of course."

"Been a while since we've seen London town," Niall commented. "Glad to be back."

"I'm here," Louis agreed, ignoring his friends and taking a step closer to Harry. "Actually really here."

Harry let out a shaky breath as he shortened the gap between them, not paying any attention to the other three men there.

"It's nice to be acknowledged and appreciated, isn't it?" Niall asked Liam and Zayn sarcastically, and then snorted as he watched the other two practically circle each other. "It's so fucking hilarious watching them as well." He raised his voice slightly. "Kiss already!"

"Fuck you, Horan," Louis immediately replied.

"You wish, Tommo."

"Ignore the leprechaun," Louis told Harry. "I'm just a bit unsure about what to do."

"Well, we could take his advice," Harry suggested. "It's not like I don't want to."

"Same, but I was kinda hoping that we wouldn't have an audience when it happened."

"Me too, but hey... beggars can't be choosers."

"Another valid point," Louis conceded. "So... we're doing this now?"

"I think so."

"Bring it in then, lad."

Harry chuckled softly and took the final step separating them. He slipped a hand along Louis' jaw, stroking a thumb over his cheekbone as he gazed at him.

"Hi," he whispered.

"Hi," Louis replied faintly, before stretching slightly, pressing his lips tenderly to Harry's.

They both ignored the catcalls and jeers from their friends, instead pulling back after only a few seconds, smiling shyly at each other.

"So, um," Harry murmured. "I was wondering if you wanted to stay at mine. I mean, I have a spare room that's yours if you want it."

"A spare room?" Louis raised an eyebrow. "Uh. Okay."

"Well, you don't have to use it." Harry shrugged a shoulder. "There's plenty of room in my bed, if you wanna share." He smirked slightly. "We can always top and tail it. That's what you do at sleepovers, right?"

"If you're like, seven!" Louis shoved playfully at Harry's arm. "Don't make me change my mind about coming here early, Styles."

"Like you would."

"Like you ever could," Zayn interjected. "But once you've both finished your reunion, can we get out of here? They're expecting another flight in a sec and they need this gate."

"Whoops, yeah, we're moving," Louis chuckled. "C'mon then, Haz. Lead the way to the car." He paused. "You have got a car, right?"

"Of course I've got a bloody car!" Harry huffed. "The bank didn't get a chance to take that yet. The advance money from the film covered it. And stopped them taking the house."

"I hope you could afford a bit more than that," Louis commented worriedly.

"I took my mum out for a meal when I got home?" Harry offered.

"Still not quite what I was hoping for."

"Look, it's fine. I'm keeping my house and my car, both of which were the highest on my list of priorities. I still get a slow dribble of royalties from sales of _Creature_ , which will probably go up once news of the film comes out."

"I should bloody hope so. Our reputation is better than that."

"Well, mine was practically in the toilet, so you must mean the studio."

"Your rep's not that bad, don't be so defeatist."

"I saw someone on Pinterest using _Creature_ for one of those book folding art things. And the person who posted it was like 'oh yeah, just any old crappy book will do'."

"Babe, that's one narrow-minded person, don't assume that they're all the same," Louis squeezed Harry's arm reassuringly. "Let's get this film done and out there. Things are definitely going to be turning around for you."

~~~~~~

_A year later_

"Liam, I can't do this."

"Yes you can, now get on the damn plane, Styles, before I call Louis and tell him you're boycotting the premiere of your own film."

"Don't you dare, he's stressed enough as it is!"

"Then get your ass down that bloody tunnel and in your seat!"

Harry glared at his agent again, but did as he was told, tugging his small carry-on case along behind him. Liam shook his head and chuckled as he followed.

They boarded the plane and got settled in for the twelve hour flight, much as they'd done when they were headed over for the scriptwriting sessions. This time however, Liam was up in business class alongside Harry instead of relegated to economy.

"So, is loverboy gonna be waiting at the airport with flowers, chocolates, and a huge teddy bear?" Liam teased as the plane reached altitude. "Should I be prepared for lovelorn looks and grand gestures?"

"Shut your face, Payno," Harry huffed. "I'm not sure if Lou's gonna be there or not. He said he was gonna be busy with organising the premiere, so I don't know. Hopefully though. You know that he's the one for grand gestures more than I am."

"In other words, expect flowers, chocolates, and a teddy bear," Liam nodded. "Gotcha."

"Oh shove off," Harry nudged him. "Like you're any better with all the not-so-secret calls you've been having with Zayn."

"I, um, uh, I --" Liam spluttered. "I don't know what you're talking about! They've been incredibly serious business calls!"

"Uh huh. I'm not even going to mention the one I overheard when you stayed at mine the other day then." Harry turned to look out of the window, before murmuring, "oh Zayn, yes, so good..."

Liam gaped at him, his face bright red, and completely unable to formulate a response.

"I'm gonna listen to some music and read," Harry decided. "I'll talk to you later."

With that, he pulled his headphones and book out of his bag and settled down. Instead of reading though, his thoughts drifted back to when he'd made this flight last year, and all of the chaos that had happened in the time since.

After Harry had met Louis at the airport in London, they'd spent a whole week together at Harry's home - no phones, no outsiders (except for the odd takeout delivery), and no distractions. They talked about anything and everything they could possibly think of, getting to know each other without the pressure of working on the script between them. After a slightly awkward conversation the first evening, Louis had spent every night in Harry's bed, but it had taken longer than either of them had really expected for them to even begin to get more intimate. Harry chuckled softly to himself as he remembered how completely uncoordinated and uncomfortable their first time had been, up until he'd accidentally kicked Louis in the hip, causing him to nearly fall off the bed. They'd both stared at each other in stunned silence for a few beats, before bursting out into peals of laughter, clinging to each other as they giggled helplessly at just how awful it was. It had been exactly what they'd needed though - the hilarity of the moment breaking whatever tension had been surrounding them.

Filming had gone without a hitch, and it was one of the most surreal experiences of Harry's life. Travelling in to the studio every day with Louis, watching his book come to life before his eyes - the cast that Louis had chosen couldn't have been more perfect if they'd been literally plucked from Harry's imagination - before returning home to snuggle up on the sofa with the man he was rapidly falling in love with... it was what dreams were made of. Louis had raised an eyebrow in query when he'd caught Harry pinching himself one evening, but had simply nodded in understanding when Harry had explained that he couldn't quite believe that this was his life now.

At one point, they managed to carve out some time to host a meal for their families to meet. To their initial delight, and eventual horror, both families got along from the get-go. Harry had cleared the table from their starters with everyone sitting a little awkwardly and looking uncertainly at each other, and returned with plates for the main course to find both his and Louis' mums gossiping freely about their sons at one end, while Gemma was talking to the two eldest Tomlinson sisters about what it was like to work as a journalist, with Louis sat in the middle of it all, looking slightly perplexed.

"What happened?" Harry had hissed as he set down Louis' plate in front of him.

"I literally could not tell you even if I tried," Louis said a little helplessly. "One minute they were still looking like someone was going to pull a knife from somewhere, the next they're like this," he gestured around him. "I don't even know what caused it."

"The fact that you two think that we haven't all been talking to each other for weeks is the bit I find most ridiculous," Anne piped up. "I found Jay on Twitter once I knew that this thing with you two was looking serious. We've been chatting ever since."

"Lotts and Fizz found me on Instagram," Gemma shrugged. "We've met up a few times over the past couple of weeks."

"So what was with the awkward?" Louis looked confused.

"We wanted to see how long we could make you squirm," Jay smiled brightly. "But then it got boring cos you're too easy to wind up."

"Holy hell, Mum," Louis scowled. "I was starting to think that this was going to go horribly wrong."

"Like you'd have actually changed your mind about Harry for us," Lottie rolled her eyes. "You two are ridiculously obvious and disgusting."

"Not the sort of thing a little sister needs to see from her big brother," Fizzy chimed in.

"Don't bloody watch then, you little perves," Louis teased, flicking his serviette at them both.

It had been the best evening after that. It had gotten so late that they'd all ended up staying over in the many spare rooms that Harry's house held, and had a huge family breakfast the following morning before they'd all gone their separate ways again.

The memory made Harry smile affectionately, and glance down at his phone, which held reassuring messages from Anne and Jay, who both knew why this journey was making him so anxious.

Once filming was finished, Louis put off his return to Los Angeles for as long as he could, which eventually amounted to a whole three weeks. The time was spent with soft words, tender touches, and tentative plans for the future. A significant part of Harry wanted to move out there with him immediately, but (reluctant) practicality won out, and they eventually agreed that, as Harry would be invited to attend the LA premiere of _Sweet Creature_ , he would move over at the same time.

So, after a tearful farewell at the airport, Louis boarded an airplane to take him back to Beverly Hills, while Harry returned home, to a house that seemed far emptier than it had prior to Louis' arrival over four months before. Unable to stand the thought of waiting another eight months, Harry had begun packing up the house immediately, going through his accumulated belongings and discarding all that was unnecessary or unneeded, sending most of it to local charity shops. He rapidly came to the thought that the moving date couldn't come quick enough for him.

In the meantime, he rediscovered his muse, and managed to complete the first draft of _Sweet Creature_ 's sequel: _Two Hearts_. As he'd promised, the completed manuscript went first to Louis for his perusal, before a copy was sent to Liam. Two days after he'd hit send, two days which he spent pacing to and fro between his office and the lounge because he'd heard nothing from either of them, there was a knock on the front door. Opening it, Harry found a tired but elated-looking Louis on the doorstep, who had taken one look at him, before he dropped his bag and threw his arms around Harry, hugging him tightly and whispering in his ear how proud he was.

Louis had managed to stay a week, and had spent the time arguing with Liam over some of the suggested edits he'd sent back, insisting that the novel was perfect as it was. Harry had chuckled at him with fond amusement, before gently telling him that _Creature_ had gone through four drafts before it was released, and that he'd been expecting far more notes on _Hearts_ than Liam had sent. Louis had huffed repeatedly, but had eventually - and very reluctantly - conceded that the edits did improve the flow of the story.

Before he left again, with Harry spread out beneath him on their bed, Louis had teased and taunted and coaxed a promise to the film rights out of him, on the condition that the same cast, crew, director and producers were used, and as long as Harry could help with the script again.

When it was eventually released, after only taking a couple of months to fully edit, design, and print, it shot straight to the top of the bestsellers list, surprising exactly no one but Harry himself. Within two weeks, Louis had drafted and sent out the paperwork for the film rights, with a post-it attached reading 'you already promised.. but here's the official bit ; )'. Harry had shaken his head at his boyfriend's cheek, and then FaceTimed Louis, so he could witness Harry signing with no argument.

"I knew you'd do it, Styles, I didn't need to see it," Louis snickered as he watched Harry's pen cross the paper in his illegible scrawl.

"Maybe not, but this is so different from last time," Harry smiled at his phone. "It's a bit more monumental, I guess?"

"No, what you really mean is you're the sappiest sap to ever sap, and you wanted your boyfriend to see you sign your name," Louis smirked.

"Like you can talk," Harry retorted. "You sent me flowers, chocolates, and champagne with the damn papers!"

"That's the treatment that all authors receive from Louis Tomlinson Studios," sniffed Louis haughtily. "We believe that only the best is good enough."

"That was the Milkybar Kid," corrected Harry, before scribbling on the last dotted line with a flourish. "There! All done. I'll get Jeff to put them back in the post later, first class, recorded, extra fast delivery, et cetera."

"Tell him to use the studio couriers. I'm expecting a delivery from them in the next day or so, so it can come over with them."

"No problem, just let me have the details and I'll make sure he gets them there."

"And you're coming over in a couple of weeks?" Louis checked for the sixth time.

"Yes, darling," Harry reassured him. "I'll be over for ten days to start the early promotional junkets for _Creature_ , and do some interviews for _Hearts_. Then home for another six weeks, before I'm back out to you permanently."

"Permanently," Louis repeated. "Like. You're gonna live here. With me."

"Yep, you'll be stuck with me then, Tomlinson."

"Sounds perfect, to be honest."

And now here he was, watching out of the window as the plane began its descent into LAX. The premiere was scheduled for the following evening, but he had a wardrobe fitting booked in for later that afternoon. Harry had no idea who or what he was going to be wearing - Louis had begged to be allowed to arrange it all, and Harry had somewhat reluctantly conceded. All he knew was that it was going to be designer, and 'very you, Haz, I promise'.

He gathered his things together as the plane cruised to a stop on the tarmac, and waited for everyone else to get off in front of him, before he made his way down to the door, thanking the air stewards as he went.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped out of the plane into the bright afternoon sunshine, and followed Liam down the steps towards the terminal.

"It's so fucking hot here," he muttered.

"Yes, the weather is absolutely atrocious," Liam agreed. "You should definitely return to London and the rain as soon as possible."

"Oh hush, I was just making an observation. I don't mean that I want to go back." Harry slipped his sunglasses onto his nose and ran a hand through his hair. "This is my home now - here, with Lou."

"Utter saps, the pair of you."

Harry rolled his eyes and hopped up onto the shuttle bus. Settling in one of the seats, he bit his lip nervously, pulling his phone out of his pocket and flicking the Airplane Mode off, rolling his eyes again at how it immediately started buzzing and pinging with notifications. He distracted himself with going through his emails and messages, ignoring Liam's continuous commentary on the short bus journey over to the main terminal building.

Harry could feel the anticipation levels rising, his heart rate increasing, and his palms were beginning to sweat a little. As the bus slowed to a halt, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, before he got up, leading the way off of the vehicle and into the main building. They made it easily through Customs, and out to the luggage hall, where they had to wait for a few minutes before their cases came trundling around the conveyor belt, the bright rainbow straps around Harry's making the otherwise boring black case more obvious to find.

"Let's go find loverboy then," Liam smirked.

"Will you stop calling him that? You're being a dick."

"Alright, alright, keep those long locks of yours on."

"Anyway, I still think you're just as excited to see Zayn, and I'm gonna tell Lou that exact thing, so you can deal with his teasing," Harry told him firmly. "You'll love that, both of you."

"Don't you dare, Harry!"

Before Harry could reply, a loud yell caught his attention from behind the barriers just inside the arrivals lounge.

"HAROLD! ME OL' MUCKER!"

"Oh dear God," Harry murmured.

"You're the one who wants to live with him," Liam said quickly. "You deal with him. He's your problem."

"Yeah, thanks for the support. I thought you were supposed to be my friend."

"Oh, I'm totally your friend, but this is still your problem and not mine."

They stepped through the doors into Arrivals properly to find Louis, flanked by both Zayn and Niall, and surrounded by flowers and balloons, while holding up a large, professionally printed, sign for 'Harry of the Styles'. As Harry got closer, he briefly closed his eyes in resignation when he spotted an oversized plush dog sat in one of the seats, thereby fulfilling Liam's previous prediction for how over the top Louis would go.

He couldn't maintain that level of mortification though, not when his beautiful, bright and shining boy was standing right there in front of him, megawatt beam on his face, making his eyes scrunch up so adorably, with his skin all tanned and healthy-looking. Harry dropped his bag and stood his case up, stepping up in front of Louis.

"Hi," he murmured.

"Is that all I get? That's all I get?" Louis looked around at his friends and anyone else who was nearby in disbelief. "I've gone to all this effort, with the flowers, the balloons, the dog that literally took me an hour to wrestle in here -" "Lou, me and Zayn brought it in on a trolley," Niall interjected, which Louis promptly ignored - "and all you can give me is a measly: hi. That's rich, that is."

"You're very Yorkshire today, have you been talking to your mum?" Harry observed.

"That is hardly the point, not when you're being so off about my hard work. I mean, I worked my ass off -" "You got people to do it for you, Louis - you've been stressing over the decor in your house," Zayn rolled his eyes - "and this is all the thanks I can get."

Before Louis could go off on another rant, Harry stopped him with a single tender kiss, silencing him where he stood.

Eventually Harry pulled back slowly, smirking at Louis’ stunned silence.

"That's better," he murmured huskily. "Thank you for the flowers and stuff - it all looks amazing, and I'm incredibly grateful to have you in my life."

Louis gave him a bashful smile, gently squeezing his hips.

"The same is definitely true for you too, love," he said softly. "I'm so happy you're here. At long last."

"You saw me a week ago," Harry raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I know, but you know what I mean. When we get to the end of this, you won't be going home to London while I stay here. You'll be staying with me." Louis leaned in to nuzzle gently at Harry's jaw, before he pulled back again. "I'm just happy."

"I'm happy too, darling," Harry reassured him. "But the staying home with you isn't going to happen for a while. We have the promotional tour first. Here, New York, London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Tokyo, Sydney --"

"Yes, yes, I know the itinerary," Louis interrupted, flapping a hand before he grabbed one of Harry's and started to walk towards the exit. "But your stuff started to arrive yesterday, so you can't change your mind when we swing by London. Cos I'm not gonna let you. Just FYI."

"Message received and understood. Now, I think you told me something about a suit fitting?"

"Where do you think we're going now?"

"You'd better have chosen well, or I'm gonna have to try and find another in less than a day, and I'll end up very stressed for the premiere itself."

"Can you just quit the yammering and trust me on this?"

They both stopped in their tracks and stared, wide-eyed, as they suddenly noticed that Zayn was giving Liam a very enthusiastic greeting in the middle of the Arrivals lounge, while Niall stood off to one side, shaking his head and pulling disgusted faces.

"Did you know about this?" Louis asked under his breath.

"I had my suspicions," Harry admitted. "But I wasn't expecting this. Get in there, Li."

"I think it's Zayner who's leading the charge on this one."

"Hmm, you could be right." Harry glanced around at the other people in the area. "Although I think we should probably try and get them to move along - I think we're causing a roadblock."

"Oh let them have a bit of romance first," Louis insisted. "It's cute." He watched for a few more moments with an affectionate smile, before he let it fade slightly. "Okay, they're really going for it, aren't they?"

"Just a little."

"Yeah, that was some inappropriate groping, let's get them separated and out to the car before we see something we shouldn't. Plus there are kids roaming around who don't need to be seeing boners and shit like that. Scar the poor little mites for life."

Harry let out a snort as he closed the gap between them and the enthusiastic couple, ignoring Niall's desperate entreaties to stop.

"C'mon you two, break it up," he said firmly. "You can continue this somewhere private, without witnesses. We don't need to be seeing things getting perky or... thrusty." He shot a look at Liam who had opened his mouth, about to protest. "And don't even try and deny it, Payno. I suggest both of you hold bags or jackets or something in front of you as we leave. Or you'll have some poor unsuspecting child's eye out."

"That's disgusting Harold," Louis pulled a face.

"Well they're the only ones at the right height to be a target," Harry shrugged.

"He's your problem now," Liam repeated.

"When you've all finished being more than a little grim, in various ways, can we please go?" Niall asked, frustratedly. "If I wind up with a ticket on me car, you lot are paying for it."

"I told you to get two hours," Zayn told him. "I knew we'd be longer than you thought."

"You don't get to talk to me right now, Malik," Niall glared. "You're the main reason we've taken longer, cos you decided you had to jump on this poor lad as soon as he'd got off the damn plane."

"I think he was more than happy to be jumped."

"Oh, I definitely was," Liam put in, beaming at Zayn and squeezing his hand tightly.

"Were we ever that sappy?" Louis asked Harry.

"You still are, it's fucking awful," Niall chimed in before Harry could even think about a response. "So it's looking like I'm a bloody fifth wheel, isn't it?"

"Aww, we'll have to find you someone of your very own, Nialler," Harry told him. "I've got some friends who are single."

"Don't you bloody dare. I'm perfectly capable of finding my own partners, thank you. I don't need your pitiful help."

"How do you know my help would be pitiful?"

"Because I know you, and I know most of your friends, cos they're Lou's friends too."

"Excuse you, I have friends in London," Harry huffed, a little insulted.

"Great, more Brits around the place, just what I need," Niall rolled his eyes. "I'm grand, I'll find meself a proper Irish lad or lass."

"Or a Canadian," Louis whispered. "He's got a thing for one of the scriptwriters I employed a couple months ago. Name's Shawn, he's a few years younger than Niall, and they keep doing that adorable puppy gaze while the other's not looking thing."

"Aww, I remember being in that phase with you," Harry grinned.

"Yeah, but we didn't dance around each other for as long as these fuckers have been. It's sickening, I swear."

"You're such a liar, Lou. You're the biggest romantic of us all. You're rooting for them."

"Well, yeah, but I need to _try_ and maintain a reputation."

"What reputation?" Zayn asked from the front, as he stopped next to the car. "The only rep you've got is that of the softest marshmallow."

"You shut your mouth," Louis pointed at him, attempting to look threatening.

"Or what, you'll hit me with a pillow?"

"Absolutely no respect anywhere. I'm gonna fire you all."

"You can't fire me, babe," Harry kissed his cheek. "I'm your boyfriend. I'm unfireable."

"Firstly, that's not even a word, and secondly, how dare you."

"Oh I dare, I very dare."

"Oh jeez, don't you pair start," Niall groaned. "We've only just got these two apart. Just get in the damn car, all of you. In the back, so I don't have to look at your ugly mugs while I'm driving."

"We're heading to Charles Jeffrey first, Nialler," Louis told him as he held the door open for Harry. "But we shouldn't be in there long. Just for this one to get his suit fitted properly. Then back to the house?"

"Yeah, yeah, I cleared the day for you, like I normally do."

"You're the best, lad."

Niall rolled his eyes and got into the driver's seat, while the other four clambered into the back of the limousine. Within minutes they were headed towards Rodeo Drive, all chattering over themselves as they caught up on the time they'd been apart. Despite Niall's declaration that he wanted nothing to do with them while he drove, he kept the partition down and added his own news to the noise.

To no one's surprise, Harry loved the suit that Louis had chosen for him, spending at least fifteen minutes admiring himself in the mirror as one of the seamstresses made some minor adjustments to the fit.

"I love it, Lou," he gushed as he followed Louis back to the car. "It's the perfect suit. I'm so excited."

"See? I know you," Louis nodded smugly. "And you thought I'd fuck up. I know you thought that, so don't even try to deny it."

"No, no, not going to," Harry held his hands up. "I admit, I was a little concerned. But that's all it was - concern. Next time I swear, I'll have more faith and trust."

"Mention pixie dust and I'll be in trouble with Disney, so please don't."

"Again?" Zayn asked, only hearing Louis' comment. "What've you done this time?"

"Shut up, Malik," Louis huffed. "I haven't done anything. Harold here is the one trying to get me on copyright laws."

"What? No I didn't! I swear!" Harry protested.

"Can we just get a move on?" Liam asked tiredly. "Jet lag is starting to kick in, and I need a bed. At this point, I don't even care what bed it is, just as long as it's horizontal and relatively comfortable. A pillow and blanket would be welcome, but not essential."

"Yeah, we definitely need to get Liam a bed, he's starting to ramble," Harry said quickly. "He's about five words away from slurring, which means he could just drop at any moment. So. Let's motor."

The five all clambered back into the limousine, so that Niall could take them up into the hills to Louis' (and now Harry's) home, where they were all staying until after the premiere. The ride was quiet compared to the journey from the airport, as Zayn fussed over Liam, making sure he was comfortable and warm, letting him rest against his shoulder. Harry and Louis sat across from them, wrapped up in each other and not paying much attention to anything else.

Once they arrived, Louis made a spectacle of carrying a giggling Harry over the threshold, while Zayn and Niall protested that it should only be once they're married that they 'do the carrying thing'.

"Is that even something you're thinking about?" Zayn asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not that it's any of your business Zayn, but yes, actually," Louis sniffed haughtily. "There have been discussions, and Harry has agreed to allow me to be the one to propose when the time comes -" "I did not!" Harry interjected - "but as to the time and date of that, it will be when we feel it's the right time."

"I did not agree to that," Harry grumbled. "I actually thought I made a good case for me being the one to propose, but obviously not."

"Hush, Harold," Louis chastised. "I'm the oldest, so I get to decide when things happen."

"You are such a control freak," Niall rolled his eyes. "Now can we finish up this debate and get poor Liam to a bed before he passes out on us."

They all worked together to get Liam to the guest room and settled into bed, Zayn letting out an affectionate chuckle as Liam lost consciousness immediately as his head hit the pillow.

"What about you, Haz?" he asked. "You okay for a bit?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry," Harry nodded. "I should get some food before I crash."

"I'll order pizza," Louis decided. "I'm going to ignore any protest you make, Styles. Just eat the pizza and then sleep. It'll be quicker than trying to make something out of the dregs of the kitchen." He caught the glare Harry was giving him. "I may have forgotten to order shopping like you told me to repeatedly over the past week."

"I knew I should've done it myself," Harry huffed.

"Never mind, at least you're not going to be stuck in the kitchen when you're all sleepy," Niall offered, trying to see the positive. "You can just relax with us. FIFA, anyone?"

"I don't even know why you bother trying, Ireland," Louis sniffed. "You know full well that I'm gonna kick your ass and then hand it to you. But still, you persist."

"You're gonna get your downfall eventually," Niall swore.

"While you guys go do that, I'm gonna stay here with Liam," Zayn decided. "I could go for a nap anyway."

"Wow, that's such a surprise," Louis said, deadpan. "I'm kidding, bro. Look after him."

"Always," Zayn smiled softly, slipping back into the guest room and shutting the door quietly behind him.

"And then there were three," Niall grinned. "C'mon, lads. XBOX and pizza wait for no man!"

"Well, they kinda do, cos they're not playing or eating themselves," Harry pointed out.

"You get to wait a turn for that. Tommo, I'm challenging you."

"Prepare to be annihilated," Louis replied carelessly.

~~~~~~

The following day was a flurry of activity, made all the more frantic when no one's alarms went off, so everyone overslept by nearly two hours. In the midst of it all, the one person that everyone had expected to be stressed out and panicky was as cool as a cucumber. Harry had quietly risen, leaving Louis under the sheets, while he headed downstairs and managed to find enough in the kitchen for a decent sized fry up. By the time the other four had come piling down the stairs, all talking over each other as they realised the time and what they had to do that day, he had everything set out on the dining table, with a carafe of coffee and a pot of tea, as well as fruit juice in a jug.

"Sit down," he instructed quietly. "We need to eat properly before we start today."

"Haz, we really don't have time," Louis protested.

"Yes, we do." Harry guided him slowly by the shoulders to a seat. "We all need to make sure we're well fed and watered. Else today is going to be even harder than it needs to be. So. Everyone sit." He watched as they all warily took their seats. "Thankfully, the kitchen is better stocked than Louis thought. So we have bacon, eggs, sausages, hash browns, mushrooms and tomatoes. Zayn, I found some turkey bacon and chicken sausages for you, they're on that plate there," he pointed, getting a grateful grin in return. "Tea, coffee, juice. If you need or want anything else, let me know and I'll see what I can do."

"Pancakes?" Niall asked, a little cheekily.

"Give me ten minutes," Harry immediately replied, turning on his heel.

"No, no! I was joking!"

"Haz, this is amazing," Louis told him. "Thank you. Premieres for us usually involve KFC or Nandos, as we're leaving."

"Yeah, I can't remember the last time I ate on the morning of a red carpet," Zayn added. "It's nice." He looked at Louis. "You'd better keep this one, and treat him right. We need this."

"I concur!" Niall spoke up, his mouth already full of bacon. "This is fucking gorgeous, Haz."

"You're welcome," Harry blushed. "I like to be domestic," he shrugged.

The five tucked in properly, chattering quietly over their meal, sharing their concerns about the rest of the day - Liam was fretting that he wouldn't be able to get his workout in, but Louis told him he had full use of the gym in the basement, "fuck knows I've never been in there, mate - you may as well at least take the plastic wrap off of everything!" - while Harry was a little nervous about stepping out onto the highly publicised carpet - "I can fall over barefoot on flat ground, now you want me in boots, on a red carpet, in front of thousands. And now I’m thinking about it, why the hell have you got me in a red suit on a red carpet? It's really not going to end well, Lou. I’m gonna be on all of the worst dressed lists tomorrow, you watch." "You'll be fine, darling. I'll hold onto you. I won't let you fall. You’ll be on the best dressed lists. And it’s a blue carpet. Not a red one."

They cleared up the dishes from breakfast together, and then separated to go about their morning ablutions, before meeting up again in the living room. There were a few press interviews that Harry, Louis, and Zayn needed to attend, but Liam and Niall were free until the premiere in the late afternoon.

The rest of the day passed in what seemed like the blink of an eye, as they all went about their duties, and before they knew it, they were in the car at the end of the blue carpet. Niall had gotten Greg to drive them so that he could accept Louis' invitation for once and actually walk with them.

"So, we ready?" Harry asked, looking around at his friends and boyfriend.

"I think so, Haz," Liam nodded, reaching out to squeeze his knee gently. "Are you?"

Harry grinned and slipped one arm around Louis' waist.

"I think I've been ready for this for about a year," he winked. "But before we go. I just want to thank you all. I know I wasn't the easiest person to be around a year ago. I let what happened with my ex tarnish and taint everything in my life, and that's on me. I allowed the pain and the hurt and the anger at him consume me. I was just drifting through my life, refusing to see that I was basically letting myself rot and decay, no matter how many people tried to tell me." He took a deep breath. "Coming here last year, writing this script - I may have been forced, financially and contractually, but it was definitely the best thing that could've happened to me. I needed that kick up the ass, that jolt to the system." He looked at Louis with a loving expression. "I needed you, Lou. You dragged me out of the darkness - kicking and screaming and clinging desperately to every single bit of my emo-like attitude - but you got me out here, and you got me to open up again. I'm so happy that I met you. I'm even happier that you're in my life now. And I don't have the words to describe how thankful I am to you, for your love and persistence."

"Oh Haz," Louis sniffed softly. "It wasn't just me."

"No, I know," Harry nodded. "Liam was a huge part too. And I wanna thank you Li, for never giving up on me. Even though over those ten years, you must've wanted to, on a fairly regular basis. But I'm glad you didn't. You're my best friend, and I'm so grateful to you for everything you've done, as a friend and as an agent. If it wasn't for you, we most definitely would not be here today." He paused for a moment. "I'd probably be back sleeping at my mum's, to be honest. Scary thought, that."

"Haz, it was nothing," Liam murmured.

"No, it wasn't," Harry insisted. "It was everything. Zayn and Niall, you guys were the extra shoves I needed to get my life back on track. You never asked questions, you never assumed anything, you just made me laugh and joke and made me realise that there's a whole lot more to life than dwelling on heartbreak. So, thank you too."

"Well, now that you've got us all crying," Niall choked. "You arse, we've gotta go out there with swollen eyes and shit and it's all your fault!"

"Definitely a tactic to make himself look better," Zayn muttered, wiping under his eyes not-so-discreetly.

"Like I'm gonna look any better than you, Malik," Harry replied teasingly. "You look like a supermodel at any time of the day or night." He snickered at Zayn's response of a middle finger. "But in all seriousness. Thank you. And just as a heads up, the dedication page of _Hearts_ , it's made out to all of you. So don't freak when you see it, okay?"

"How did you manage to keep that from me?" Liam demanded.

"I spoke to your dad," Harry grinned. "Geoff's a soft touch when it comes to his only son, you should know that by now."

"You both suck," Liam declared, before he visibly softened. "Thanks, Harry."

"Love you all very much a lot," Harry nodded. "And all of this," he gestured out of the window, "it's all for you guys."

"Okay, before you get us all into complete wrecks, Harold," Louis interrupted. "Let's get out there. C'mon lads, out we go."

Each of the other three pressed kisses to Harry's cheek as they passed to get out of the car, murmuring a 'love you' to him as they went, until it was just Harry and Louis left in the car.

"Hey Lou," Harry said softly.

"Yes, Haz?"

"You get the most thanks. You've been my rock, my light, my hope, my everything this past year. And I can't wait to start this next chapter of our lives together."

Louis gazed at him for a moment, then widened his eyes a little as Harry started to reach into his pocket.

"Oh no you don't, Styles," he said quickly. "Don't you dare! We agreed it would be me! Don't you take this from me!"

"No, you agreed, I just rolled my eyes when you started," Harry chuckled softly. "Now shut up for five seconds and let me do this properly." He slid off of the seat onto one knee on the floor of the limo. "Louis William Tomlinson, you are, without a shadow of a doubt, the absolute love of my life. This past year has been the best of my existence, and I'm so grateful that you chose to be with me. You're my closest friend, my muse, my entire world." He tugged open the lid of the small jewellery box in his hand. "Will you please do me the honour of making me the happiest man on the earth, and consent to marry me?"

"I hate you so much," Louis sniffed, wiping at the tears on his cheeks with the back of his hand. "Of course I'll fucking marry you, you dickhead."

"Yeah, okay, so we're gonna edit that response to a 'he said yes' when we tell our families, right?" Harry snickered, as he took the ring out of the box and slid it carefully onto Louis' finger.

"Are we fuck as like," Louis hiccuped slightly, gazing down at the simple platinum band. "This is my response and I'm gonna own that shit." He slid his arms around Harry's shoulders, pulling him close and kissing him firmly. "Mm, hey Haz?"

"Yeah, Lou?"

"M'gonna marry the shit out of you."

"Gonna marry the shit out of you too, babe. Love you."

"Love you too."

 

**Author's Note:**

> [[Rebloggable tumblr post](https://reminiscingintherain.tumblr.com/post/184584514555/you-bring-me-home-reminiscingintherain)]


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